Functional ingredients for snack and bakery challenges
A host of functional ingredients―from fats and oils to fibers and starches―are available to help bakers and snack producers resolve formulation challenges.
During research and development, bakers and snack producers face formulation hurdles on a daily basis. Luckily, functional ingredients like fats, oils, dough conditioners and egg replacers can help them solve a host of common challenges.
Bakers who use partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) in their products face a major challenge due to new government regulations, says Frank Flider, oil consultant, Qualisoy, Chesterfield, MO. “In 2015, the FDA issued a final determination that PHOs are no longer considered to be GRAS (generally recognized as safe),” he explains. “So by June 18, 2018, no food product may contain PHOs without prior FDA approval. Because of the widespread use of PHOs in baking, this ruling has major ramifications. There are hundreds of PHO-based shortenings and margarines used to produce cakes, icings, doughnuts and prepared mixes. Each of these must be replaced by a non-PHO counterpart with a functional equivalent.”