The past few months have brought new production challenges for bakers and snack manufacturers. Outbreaks of avian influenza this spring resulted in the death of millions of domestic chickens and, consequently, egg shortages and escalating egg prices (see “Avian influenza’s impact on the bakery industry”). Many bakers and snack producers, therefore, turned to egg replacement systems to fill their ingredient gap and keep production costs in check.
Shortly thereafter, FDA announced it is giving food manufacturers three years to remove partially hydrogenated oils from their products or petition the agency to allow for specific uses of PHOs (see “FDA bans trans fats”). While some manufacturers have already started removing PHOs from their products, others are beginning to look for alternatives.