Interest in clean label expanding to a ‘greater breadth’ of product: Ingredion delivers a starch targeting ‘delicate’ flavours and colours
Ingredion has launched three new texturizing starches in Europe that, it said, will enable food makers to create ‘natural’ clean label food and beverage products without impacting “light colours, nuanced flavours or luxurious textures”.
The range, NOVATION Lumina, includes functional native starches that are have neutral profiles that allow flavours and colours to be delivered with increased intensity. This means manufacturers can maintain product qualities, even in delicate applications.
Constantin Drapatz, senior marketing manager, clean and simple food ingredients, EMEA, told FoodNavigator that this is necessary because today’s consumers expect clean labels across a broader spectrum of products. “Consumers’ increasing interest in clean and simple labels is now expanding to a greater breadth of food and beverage applications. Manufacturers of delicate, colour and flavour-sensitive applications, such as cream fillings or dressings, are also looking to develop or reformulate existing lines to create ‘natural’, clean and simple products that do not compromise on eating experience, texture or shelf life stability.”
Ingredion’s new starches, based on corn starch refined from waxy corn, is targeting these manufacturers and has been engineered to have a minimal impact on the taste or colour profile of the end product.
“Every ingredient carries its own colour and taste attributes into the final food product, particularly when a very high dosage is required,” Drapatz explained. “With our new NOVATION Lumina functional native starches, we can offer our customers the same functionality as modified starches, while minimising these distinct colour and taste attributes so they do not mask the qualities of the final product. This enables manufacturers to use the three Lumina starches at high dosages in very taste-sensitive applications.”
‘Striving for continuous improvement’
The ingredient development came out of Ingredion’s ongoing research and innovation efforts, Drapatz revealed. “We are always striving for continuous improvements of our product line to meet customers’ needs. Ingredion’s processes are of a physical nature and this applies to our NOVATION Lumina products, making them clean label.
“Ingredion has evolved the current NOVATION process and has adapted existing production conditions. This leads to a whiter appearance and a neutral flavour release of the NOVATION Lumina functional native starches.”
Delivering viscosity and gel strength comparable to that of modified starches, the three new natural ingredients – NOVATION Lumina 300, 600 and 0100 - are designed to perform across a range of processing conditions. From the low-to-moderate conditions required for applications such as bakery cream fillings and fruit preparation to the challenging processing conditions of sauces, dressings, alternative dairy and UHT products.
“The three new NOVATION Lumina starches have a whiter appearance and blander flavour release than other products available… This enables food and beverage manufacturers to develop ‘natural’ and clean and simple products in applications with more neutral flavours or lighter colours.”
Clean label plus: ‘Unmatched performance’
With consumers and food makers increasingly looking for additional functional benefits from ingredients that provide a clean label, Drapatz stressed that the new range offers “unmatched performance and functionality” across “all processing conditions”, including freeze/thaw and shelf life stability.
"For example, NOVATION Lumina 0100 is designed to withstand processing conditions such as direct steam injection, homogenisation and vacuum cooling, with the shelf life and freeze-thaw stability of a modified starch. Suitable for use in fruit fillings where a starch label is required, it gives excellent sheen and clarity, preserving the quality of the end product even after long storage, heating and / or freeze-thaw cycles,” the marketing manager explained.
“The three new functional native starches are also naturally gluten-free, supporting the need to formulate products that meet consumer dietary requirements and lifestyle preferences.”
NOVATION Lumina functional native starches meet the criteria for a “natural” ingredient in the UK & France and associated EU legislation. They also meet the requirements of the ISO Technical Specification on definitions and technical criteria for food ingredients to be considered as natural (ISO/TS 19657).
