LycoRed has developed a unique, tomato lycopene formulation tailored specifically for use as natural colorant in surimi applications. This enables food manufacturers to use a natural and vegetarian colorant in compliance with the trend toward avoiding artificial colorants.
Surimi is a very popular food product in Asian countries as well as the U.S. About 2 to 3 per cent—or 3 million tons—of the global fisheries supply is used for production of surimi and surimi-based products. Surimi is available in many shapes, forms and textures. Its texture and colour are often identical to the meat of lobster crab or other shellfish. The most common surimi product in the Western market is a crab-meat analogue. In North America, surimi is often called imitation crab or mock crab. In many other countries around the world it is typically referred to as seafood sticks, crab sticks, fish sticks or seafood extender.
While the common red colorant used in the production of surimi is carmine—extracted from cochineal insects, consumer aversion and growing concern over possible allergies, has made carmine a far less desirable colorant to processors. Recognising a gap in the market for a safe, natural solution for surimi’s unique, vivid red colour, LycoRed developed innovative tomato lycopene formulations that maintain perfect stability during the surimi production process as well as through the entire product shelf life.
“LycoRed specialises in providing innovative solutions for our customers’ needs,” says Roee Nir, Color and Flavor global commercial manager for LycoRed. “Surimi manufacturers have been trying to replace the carmine with another colour source for a long time. Our tomato lycopene colorant allows food and beverage manufacturers to achieve the precise colour shade they want without compromising flavour or stability, or experiencing migration and colour changes other natural colorants tend to have.”
Carmine is often blended with paprika to achieve the correct shade for the local surimi market. LycoRed’s Tomato lycopene formulations are freely blendable with other colours such as paprika to allow manufactures to retain this flexibility.
According to Innova Market Insights, the use of the word “natural” is particularly evident in the US and UK markets, where numNike Magista Obra