Tate & Lyle launches clean-label starches at Fi Asia 2015

TATE & Lyle, a leading global provider of food ingredients and solutions has introduced its CLARIA® Functional Clean-Label Starches to markets in Southeast Asia. Speaking to the press during Fi Asia 2015, the company’s regional management explained how the CLARIA® line is meeting demand for clean-label foods by providing manufacturers with similar functionality to chemically modified food starches plus the benefits of a clean taste and clean label.

CLARIA® Functional Clean-Label Starches enable manufacturers to meet increasing consumer demand for simpler ingredient lists. Nearly 25% of new product launches globally were positioned as label-friendly in 2013. This trend is also strongly reflected in Southeast Asian countries with penetration levels of up to 20%-25% for new clean label food products, and growing at over 21% for the past few years.

The CLARIA® starches work well without affecting the texture, look and mouthfeel of products such as yoghurt

“Tate & Lyle recognized the need for high-performing starch with similar functionality to a chemically modified starch with all the benefits of a clean label. The growth of clean label foods is taking off dramatically across Asia with superior food products,” said Gerd Frank Pedersen, Regional Lead, Texturants Asia Pacific SFI. “Although consumers demand simpler ingredient labels, taste and product experience are still primary drivers. The CLARIA® line helps provide a solution to address both of these needs.”

Gerd Frank Pedersen, Regional Lead, Texturants Asia Pacific SFI

The new line of starches outperforms other clean-label starches when it comes to meeting consumer expectations for taste, texture and appearance, according to Tate & Lyle. Internal colorimetric and sensory testing demonstrated that the new line of starches delivers excellent smoothness and shininess and has a very neutral flavor profile ad color that is comparable to modified starches. This facilitates their incorporation in food categories that have historically had limited options with functional clean-label starches.

Furthermore, CLARIA® has a white color profile and does not impact dark colors on the final product. The appearance properties of this product are therefore highly beneficial in yoghurt or dairy desserts where “whiteness” is critical.

CLARIA® also enables manufacturers to formulate with similar functionality of a modified food starch. Its patent-pending technology enables tolerance to shear, heat and acid, even under extreme conditions like ultra-high temperatures (UHT) and homogenization. It also demonstrates high thickening efficiency and texture consistency over time. “The technology behind CLARIA® Functional Clean-Label Starches is pretty unique in the marketplace because it enables the use of simple “starch” label and similar performance to modified starches, with a clean taste and neutral color. A key advancement lies in Tate & Lyle’s proprietary processing, which allows the CLARIA® starch granules to remain intact throughout different processing conditions,” said Rachel Wicklund, Team Leader, Convenience/Dairy Applications SFI.

The new starches are versatile across a broad range of applications and sophisticated processes including soups, sauces, dressings, prepared meals and yoghurt. Dairy is expected to be a key application in Asia, where three in one yoghurt products are positioned as clean label and annual growth in clean label yoghurt products is at 45%*. The full line includes three products that have different levels of process tolerance: CLARIA® Essential, CLARIA® Plus, and CLARIA® Elite.

Originally launched in October 2014 in the Americas and Europe, CLARIA® is now available to Asia’s food and beverage manufacturers who can partner with Tate & Lyle to formulate with the CLARIA® line. “We see huge potential for the CLARIA® line here in Asia and we have a world-class team of next generation of cleaner-label products to market with CLARIA® Functional Clean-Label Starches,” said Mr Pedersen. “With our extensive expertise in ingredient formulation, we can help customers solve their texture challenges across a wide range of applications.”

CLARIA® forms part of a full portfolio of label-friendly solutions including the SODA-LO® Salt Microspheres, TASTEVA® Stevia Sweetener, PUREFRUIT™,  Monk Fruit Extract, PROMITOR® Soluble Gluco Fibre and PromOat® Beta Glucan.

Fi Asia 2015 takes place from 9-11 September at BITEC in Bangkok, Thailand.

*Source - Innova Market Insights 2012-2014