Sweet success in ingredient innovation

SUGAR and salt may not be sexy as other ingredients, but what would we do without them? After all, even in the age gone by of molecular gastronomy,the bottom line has always been about flavor. Every new product developer knows that the new launch could be the healthiest ever on the shelf, but if it tastes like paper or leaves a metallic aftertaste, then it's not going to move. But then again, as any food scientist will tell you, working with sugars and salts can only be as good as the ease of application and the end-product's characteristics. Here, we feature three recent winners of the 2014 Ringier Technology Innovation Award in the Flavoring Ingredients category. Their awardwinning innovations indicate the breadth of use in the China food industry, but more importantly, the game-changing effect they have in new product development in the Chinese retail food market.

Ringier has awarded trophies to supplier-innovators in China's food & beverage industry for eight successful years

Microscopic maltitol
Direct compression maltitol from Roquette (www.roquette-food.com), which replaces sugar 1:1 in confectionery and bakery, has been used in China since the end of the last decade. A new process developed by Roquette Trading (Shanghai) has further refined the process for the grainbased sweetener has a microscopic structure and particle size distribution to further
accommodate the booming tablet candy / nutraceutical market in China. For sugar-free products, the new SweetPear l® PDC maltitol meets processing requirements such as easy mixing and compression, compatibility with active ingredients, shelf life and stability requirements, while providing a more natural taste. Launched in 2014, the sweetener provides advantages to meet the diverse China market and new taste demands, and expand the field of new product development.

Our expert panel's conclusion: Convenient inclusion of the sweetener during processing and excellent stability in final product makes it applicable to a wide variety of sugar-free tablet-like product.

'Embedded salt'
Most would consider saltiness as the embodiment of flavor as, after all, salt is the most widely used condiment. In cured meat processing, it also serves to as a shelf-life extender by reducing moisture content. A surfeit, however, not only poses an unsatisfactory sensory result but also an unfavorable salt content that could mean the product being shunned by health food buffs and consumers with cardiovascular disease.

Jinan Hela Schwarz Food, after much trial and error, developed an "embedded salt" that imparts flavor while reducing water loss commonly associated with the use of regular saline solutions.
● The salt particles are embedded uniformly in a special oil to isolate them from direct contact with the food to be cured.
● The oil used has a melting point of 60C and is insoluble in water.
● The application of embedded salt is simple and efficient.
● The special salt maintains product attributes and reduces nutrient loss owing to excessive dehydration while making it easier to achieve stable product quality and production efficiency.
Jinan Hela Schwarz Food Co, Ltd, also known as Hela (China), was established in 1996 by the Hela Group (www.helaspice.com), the Germany-based producer of natural spices, spice mixtures, and functional mixed food additives for the food industry.

Our expert panel's conclusion: The market outlook for this salt evenly embedded in a material with a specific melting point solves some food processing deterrents due to excessive water loss.

Eco-friendly sweetener
A sweetener, L- arabinose, is being produced by Shandong Longlive Biotechnology(www.longlivegroup.com) from corncobs. To utilize the waste efficiently, food-grade refined xylose and arabinose are co-generated. Longlive designed a water and energy-saving as well environment friendly process that involves extraction, hydrolysis, chromatographic separation and crystallization. L-arabinose has high stability to heat and acid, and has been approved as an additive to health food in the United States and Japan. When incorporated in sucrose containing products, L- arabinose can lower the glycemic index by inhibiting sucrase, the enzyme responsible for breaking down sucrose into fructose and glucose.

The sweetener will find wide application in products, such as low sugar, low GI dietary and functional foods addressing sucrose intolerance (except food for infants and children).

Our expert panel's conclusion: Highly commendable process of food-grade, refined arabinose which will improve the quality of products addressing the demand among diabetics and weight-conscious consumers.

The Ringier Technology Innovation Awards for the Food and Beverage Industry was held for the eighth successful year by Ringier Trade Media and our sister publication, China Food Manufacturing Journal, in cooperation with trade event organizer UBM. The Awards aim to commend the contributions of companies' promoting the development of China's food & beverage industry.

Following a strict selection process of the independent judge panel, with reference to the results of online voting, 23 winning companies featured their innovative products across five categories: Food & Beverage Ingredients, Processing, Packaging, Food Safety, and Others.

The grand awards ceremony was held at China's leading nutritional ingredients event, Fi Asia-China, in Shanghai on June 27, 2014. More than 100 high-level delegates from winning companies with Awards judges, VIP buyers attending the event, and industry media. Winners received awards for their innovative products which drive development in China's food and beverage industry. All winners received a free showcase opportunity at the most traffic-attractive space at Fi Asia-China, where trade show visitors were able to learn more about the winning products. Entries and nominations for the 9th Ringier Technology Innovation Awards for the Food and Beverage Industry are being accepted until March 31, 2015. Online voting and judging will take place from April 10 to May 20, and the awards ceremony will be held on June 25, 2015.