By Hanne K. Ludvigsen, Product Manager, Ice Cream and Dairy Group, Palsgaard A/S. Today, consumers are very much aware of food additives, which in their eyes are equal to chemical or synthetic components, even though many additives holding e-numbers are actually natural ingredients. To meet the consumer’s demand for leaner label products, Palsgaard has developed a new series of emulsifier and stabilizer blends for ice cream which reduce the e-numbers from the common 3 - 5 to only 2 or even 1 e-number without compromizing the quality of the ice cream. Industrially produced ice cream use functional ingredients such as emulsifiers and stabilizers categorized as food additives, to ensure eating qualities and shelf life of the ice cream. Emulsifiers and stabilizers serve several functions in ice cream, such as those listed below in box 1. used as a characteristic ingredient of food, whether or not it has nutritive value, the intentional addition of which to food for a technological purpose in the manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment, packaging, transport or storage of such food results, or may be reasonably expected to result, in it or its by-products Box 1 The functionalities of emulsfiers and stabilizers in ice cream • • • • • • Prevent whey separation (syneresis) in the mix Improve the whipping properties Improve the texture and modify sensory attributes of the ice cream Improve stand up properties of extruded type ice cream Prevent ice crystal growth (during storage) Improve the melting resistance In the eyes of the consumer’s additives are equal to chemical or synthetic components which for health reasons should be avoided. However, many additives are of natural origin produced without any chemical modifications. In several countries outside Europe many of the functional ingredients holding an e-number are natural ingredients e.g. locust bean gum, guar gum and pectin, and consumer products containing these ingredients can be labelled free from additives. Definition of ‘Food additives’ In Europe food additives are defined as below and are characterised by an e-number: “ ‘Food additive’ shall mean any substance not normally consumed as a food in itself and not normally becoming directly or indirectly a component of such foods;” This definition apparently doesn’t distinguish between natural and synthetic/artificial origin of the ingredients. Palsgaard Technical Paper - June 2010 Lean label ice cream 2
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