Dispatches from HIE 2010
Physically optimised flours signal clean-label shift in convenience foods
With a clear clean-label trend affecting food formulation across Europe, one of the key sectors is core commodities such as flour, where so-called physically optimised (heat treated) flours are gaining ground on modified starch solutions.
Michael Gusko, managing director of leading German milling group Kampffmeyer Food Innovation says there is clear demand in the convenience and bakery sectors for these solutions, where advantages include clean-label appeal, and good pH shear stability that "simple commodity flours" cannot match.
He explains that the principle challenge in developing such products is not technical functionality, but formulating a whole product, where it is not possible to simply replace chemically modified starch on a like-for-like basis.
