‘This solves a real headache’: Ulrick & Short addresses ‘troublesome’ processes with cold swelling starch
The cold swelling products, synergie L726 and synergie 77, can be applied to “very gentle” mixing processes without clumping, enabling the full functional performance of the starch.
“These new additions to the synergie range have been designed to be easily applicable. We’ve focused on process functionality as well as product functionality. So in normally troublesome low energy cold processes where manufacturers have issues with hydration and clumping, these products work, and can be added without any high energy/shear process to activate/function,” Ulrick & Short marketing chief Robert Lambert told FoodNavigator.
‘Genuinely innovative ingredients’
The new ingredients are clean label, non-GMO, gluten free and vegan. Other manufacturing benefits include a reduction in dusting, sticking and improved product flow behaviour.
“This solves a real headache for a lot of manufacturers. We have seen time and time again where manufacturers experience difficulties with clumping and general lack of dispersibility when applying starches; this both wastes time and also ensures that manufacturers won’t get the best out of the ingredient,” R&D Manager, Danni Schroeter said.
“Previously, manufacturers would have to use high shear equipment to unlock the functionality of functional ingredients, potentially damaging the texture and quality of the finished product in the process. With synergie 77 and synergie L726 this is no longer necessary, that’s why they are genuinely innovative ingredients.”
Ulrick & Short said they are appropriate for a range of applications, including sandwich and pie fillings, dips and sauces, ready meals, desserts and sweet applications.
“A good example would be cold prepared sauces, dips and dressings. Any instance where mixing procedures of particulates must be slow and therefore it is troublesome to add a starch for thickening and stabilising. Sandwich fillings like egg mayonnaise or tuna mayo are great examples. It can also be used to stabilise and set already a dense mixture. For instance, in applications where there is not much available water, it is difficult to apply a standard pregelatinized starch as they are require a lot of water to activate. As these new products are granulated, the surface area is greatly reduced, and they are slower much slower to hydrate, meaning it won’t clump or require a high energy system or process. A good example of this is cheesecakes or cream cheese,” Lambert explained.
According to Lambert, the products were the result of feedback from customers who were facing these production problems.
“These latest additions fill in gaps in our synergie range of stabilisers and thickeners. They complement the rest of the range very well, so now we can offer our customers a complete clean label range of starches, catering for all product and processing needs. However, this is the first time we’ve developed an ingredient that’s specifically for difficult cold processes, so really it represents an evolution on the current range,” Lambert concluded.
