Naturally Red

Maintaining the proper shade of red is important in fruit bases, beverages, and confections. In fruit preps, GNT's EXBERRY® Shade “Red,” a natural red made from fruits and vegetables, helps maintain red berry hues by offsetting eventual degradation and browning due to processing. In clear beverages and confections, it works as an alternative to carmine and FD&C Red No. 40 by delivering clear and brilliant hues similar to cranberry and cherry tones. This natural color has excellent heat and light stability, even at a higher acid pH. GNT, 877-GNT-USA7, www.gntusa.com

Clear Vitamin E

In many cases, the clarity of a drink translates to increased profits. Using breakthrough technology, ADM created Vitamin E 230 Clear, a unique product that allows manufacturers to meet the recommended daily value of vitamin E in any application—without compromising clarity. Ideal for beverage applications, the product contains over 230IU/g and instantly disperses in water to form a stable and clear solution of natural-source d-alpha tocopheryl acetate. ADM, Write in 201

Fast Cheese

This company's Cheese Flavor Concentrates offer exceptional flavor and convenience. Real cheese, the first ingredient, creates a natural synergy resulting in a well-balanced cheese flavor profile and a power boost of cheese tang. No pre-mixing is required, so the products save formulating time. Flavors available are: Toasty Cheddar, Cheddar, Parmesan, Romano and Alfredo. Eatem Foods Company, Jim Gervato, 800-683-2836, ext. 120, jgervato@eatemfoods.com, www.eatemfoods.com

Bake Stable Cheese

A line of bake stable filling systems with outstanding benefits, including a 6-month shelf stability and low water activity is available from H&R/Dragoco, flavor division. These cheese fillings work in both hot and cold applications, do not run when heated and do not crack the dough casing of finished products. They can be used as fillings for tortillas and various dough and corn bread applications. Inclusions such as bacon bits and dehydrated vegetables have worked well in prototype products. The company's scale-up plant in Teterboro, N.J., is capable of producing small runs for test products. Dragoco/Haarmann & Reimer, Michael McCarthy, 201-462-2292, mike.mccarthy@na.dragoco.com

Cheeses Galore

Whether you are adding some zip to a dip, sauce, cracker or crunchy snack item, a Danish, popcorn, frozen dinner, pizza, or any other product that benefits from the delicious taste of cheese, this company has the flavor you need. From romano to cheddar, mozzarella to bleu, Swiss to nacho, liquid, dry, natural or artificial, David Michael offers complete customer satisfaction. David Michael & Co., Customer Satisfaction Department, 215-632-3100, dmflavor@dmflavors.com, www.dmflavors.com

Natural-Tasting Cheese Powders and Flavors

Having a wide variety of cheese flavors and cheese powders brings the right flavor and functionalities to a variety of food systems. DairiConcepts, a joint venture between ZMP-Fontera and Dairy Farmers of America, offers products with natural cheese taste and varying intensities to suit your applications. The company markets a range of products, including enzyme modified cheeses for high cheese flavor as well as “Supernatural” cheeses for true-to-type tastes used in natural cheese substitution. Also available are cheese powders, the result of industry-leading flavor technology and spray-drying expertise. DairiConcepts offers a variety of savory dairy flavors, intensities, and cost advantages for use in many food applications. Samples of Savory Cheddar, Savory Cheddar & Butterand Spicy Savory Cheddar seasonings are available. DairiConcepts, Write in 202

Block Cheese Alternatives

Manufacturers seeking alternatives to block cheese will be interested in the Exceed® Plus dairy flavor line, developed by Kraft Food Ingredients Corp. (KFIC). The flavors provide convenient and economical alternatives to block cheese and allow for more cheese flavor options in traditional applications. Any product in the Exceed® Plus line can serve as a cheese enhancer, maximizing the cheese flavor in any application; a partial cheese powder replacement, reducing the cheese cost substantially; and as a primary source of cheese flavor. Kraft Food Ingredients Corporation, Tom Rieman, 901-381-6500, www.kraftfoodingredients.com

Tastefully Cheese

Cultured and enzyme-modified cheese forms the starting material for shelf-stable, free flowing, natural cheese flavor powders. Cheese Buds® provide highly concentrated cheese flavors to add to or to enhance the cheese flavor in snacks, baked goods, side dishes, and other prepared foods. Typical usage levels, ranging from 0.25% to 3.0%, contribute negligible fat. Other benefits include the ability to enhance savory or sweet flavors.

Varieties include Cheddar, Aged Cheddar, Parmesan, Romano, Gouda, Feta, Bleu and Cream Cheese.

The label declaration is “Natural Cheese Flavor” or “Natural Flavor.” Kosher certification. www.bbuds.com

Label-Friendly Cheese Powders

Many baked and heated goods are dependent on the delivery of cheese flavor from straight natural cheeses or cheese powders. However, the use of cheese powders has many advantages for most bakery applications. Cheese powders do not require refrigeration for storage and grinding; most importantly, their flavor stability is not related to the cheese's age. Kerry Specialty Ingredients, a division of Kerry Ingredients North America, has introduced bake- and heat-stable cheese powders that are shelf stable, flavor and functionality consistent, free-flowing and easily dispersible. Applications include snack foods, bakery products, crackers, retort sauces and pretzels. The new cheese powder systems deliver exceptional cheese and dairy flavors while maintaining a label friendly identity. Kerry Specialty Ingredients, Bonnie, 800-328-7517, ext. 1.

Cheese Powders for Many Applications

A line of cheese powders is exclusively dried and marketed to the food industry by HUMKO Specialty Powders under the Sargento® brand. Food technologists now have an opportunity to use this quality cheese in a convenient powder form, in applications such as: topical applications, spice and seasoning blends, side dishes, entrées, sauces, snacks, dry mixes, convenience foods, and anywhere cheese is desired but that requires the dry form be used. HUMKO Specialty Powders, Mike Scanlan, 423-842-4171

Innovation or Extinction

Speakers at the 2003 Innovation Forum, held in Scottsdale, Ariz., in January by Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), supported the theme that “those failing to move forward will fall by the wayside as novel concepts take the lead.”

“Why innovate?” asked Bill Haines, vice president of Business-to-Business Marketing, DMI. “It's simple. Times change. Nothing stands still.”

The Innovation Forum is the most recent in DMI's series of U.S. dairy farmer-funded events aimed at gathering industry input and utilizing it to guide the organization's research priorities.

If any, convenience was the one concept that stood out. The marketplace winners will be companies that match products to fit today's frantic lifestyles. And, to make convenience even more enticing to consumers, add a dose of “health.”

Doug DiRienzo, DMI's vice president of nutrition research, noted thathis group is eager to promote the entire milk-related package of nutrients, a perspective also picked up by

David Barbano, director, Northeast Dairy Foods Research Center at Cornell University.

Barbano rhetorically asked if the dairy environment influenced the beneficial properties of probiotic cultures. “Is there something about the milk that confers a benefit that doesn't exist if you take the probiotic in a pill form?”

At the micro level, Barbano said, “One of the things evolving is the ability to shuffle milk components and change the ratio of components in fluid milk to address health issues.”

For example, Allen Foegeding, professor, North Carolina State University, saw no limits in the expansion of nutrient-rich whey's use beyond health bars and nutrition beverages.

“We would like to put whey-based ingredients into every product that is possible,” he said. “When we get into some of the processed foods, there are a lot of possibilities. In grocery stores, there's a lot more shelf space devoted to chips than there is to dairy products.”

Foegeding also illustrated other uses for whey, including: utilizing whey minerals as an antioxidant in meats; modifying whey proteins to act the same as egg white in formulations; using whey proteins as emulsifiers; and employing textured whey protein as a meat extender.

“Everything we're going to do starts with the consumer,” Haines told forum participants at the end of the two-day conference. “Recognize that we need to find out what's on the consumer's mind first and let that dictate what you do.”

For questions on the Innovation Forum, contact the DMI Technical Support Hotline at 800-248-8829.

Competitively Priced Cheese Ingredients

Convenient, shelf-stable and very affordable cheese ingredients for today's product developers are available from Wild Flavors, which utilizes proprietary kosher enzyme cheese technology, along with state-of-the-art spray drying capabilities. With inventories of cheddar cheese powders with varied cheese content, these powders are available with or without color and kosher, if required. Other varieties include: parmesan cheese, romano cheese and Swiss cheese. WILD Flavors (Canada) Inc., Rob Kowal, 905-362-4999

Sidebar: THE IN BOX

Kim Ewers, vice president at Land O'Lakes, Arden Hills, Minn., was elected chairwoman of the International Foodservice Manufacturers Assoc.

Rheometric Scientific Inc., Piscataway, N.J., has completed the sale of its rheology instruments and services business to the TA Instruments Division of Waters Corporation.

Primera Foods', Cameron, Wisc., egg products facility in Perham, Minn., received the gold standard certification from the American Institute of Baking.

Bunge North America, St. Louis, had added Thomas J. Erickson as vice president of government affairs.

The 15 European Union member states have reached an agreement on food labeling requirements that are expected to introduce more transparency with regard to ingredients. The proposal calls for listing all ingredients that constitute 2% or more of a product, superceding current regulations that set the level at 25%. The proposal still must be approved by the European Parliament.

Molson Inc., Toronto, has appointed Peter L. Amirault senior vice president of business development and innovation.

Kellogg Co., Battle Creek, Mich., has sold Bishop Baking Co. Inc., Cleveland, Tenn., to Flowers Foods, Thomasville, Ga.

Silver Star Foods Inc., New York, has hired Michael Young as chief financial officer.

Dean Foods Co., Dallas, is selling its dairy operations in Puerto Rico to Grupo Gloria, a Peruvian conglomerate, for $122 million. Dean Foods' Puerto Rican operations consist of five companies: Suiza Dairy, Suita Fruit, Neva Plastics Manufacturing, Garrido y Compania LLC and Garido Alto Grande Corp.

Wixon Fontarome, St. Francis, Wisc., has hired Siegfried J.Behm as food technologist and promoted Roni L. Ecker from food technician to food technologist. The company also has introduced a new brochure of its MAG-nifique flavor system technologies to address sensory problems.