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"That's my favorite product! It has so many uses!" That was product manager Karen Silagyi's excited response when asked about Ticaloid^® 210 S. And it appears she's not the only a fan of this rock star gum system. 

A blend of Gum Arabic and Xanthan Gum that is typically used to stabilize salad dressings and sauces, this humble workhorse has been part of the TIC Gums product portfolio for years but has found popularity in new food and beverage applications. The Gum Arabic in the system provides emulsification and mouthcoating while the Xanthan Gum provides thickening and particulate suspension. Ticaloid 210 S is also easy to work with since it's stable at low pH and soluble in cold water.

"What's food science?"

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It's a career that we may hear little about outside of the food industry but it's one that is vital to feeding and nourishing the world's population. For the last four years, TIC Gums has been on a mission to introduce the field to teachers and college-bound students from Harford County Public Schools. By hosting teacher in-service training at our Texture Innovation Center in White Marsh, MD and training students during the annual Ice Cream University course, we are spreading the word that food science attracts students with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or culinary arts.

Again this year, teachers from Harford County Public Schools got hands-on experience with food science and learned more about our Ice Cream University course so that they could take that knowledge back to their classrooms.

Registration is now open for the 2016 class of Ice Cream University.

Resource

Video: TIC Gums & Cornell bring food science workshop to teachers

The TIC Times is your source for the latest news on food texture and stability.

In this issue:

• Troubleshooting Common Problems with Salad Dressings
• Ticaloid 210 S: The Rock Star of Gum Systems
• How to Disperse Gums in Water
• Encouraging Food Science Education

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Pectin is the one food gum consumers recognize on product labels and may even keep in their pantry for canning jams and jellies. Commonly used as a gelling agent, stabilizer and thickener, the use of pectin more recently expanded into other applications including juice beverages, where it enhances mouthfeel, and acidified dairy applications, where it provides protein stabilization.

Sources of Citrus Pectin

Commercial pectin is most commonly manufactured from the peels of apples or citrus fruits like lemons, limes and oranges. Like any agricultural product, the supply of pectin has fluctuated at times when weather damaged or otherwise limited crop yields; this happened most recently with the 2014 crop when citrus greening devastated the lime industry in Mexico and a freeze in Argentina damaged the lemon trees.

Gellan gum, used either alone or as part of a complete beverage stabilizer system, is an attractive option for beverage developers seeking to appeal to consumers who are interested in indulgent but still clean-label foods. While the definition of clean label varies widely, gellan can be considered to be all-natural*, organic compliant and non-GMO*.

Functional Properties of Gellan Gum

The lack of an agreed upon definition hasn't slowed down the growth of the clean label platform. In fact, the clean label trend took center stage at IFT Food Expo 2015 and it continues to demand the spotlight well into the new year.

According to research from Innova, clean label is a global trend with North America and Australasia seeing the largest increases in claims on new product launches. The report also noted that transparency is becoming a key component of clean label food product development as consumers are taking more interest in the sources of the ingredients used in their foods.¹

Making Clean Label Claims

Depending on the food or beverage manufacturer you work for or the country you're in, clean label could mean any combination of claims:

• All-natural
• Country of origin
• Minimal ingredients
• Minimally processed
• No artificial ingredients
• No preservatives
• Non-GMO
• Organic
• Recognizable ingredients

Download our chart the compares the way several large food companies classify the different hydrocolloids

While clean label encompasses a range of claims, organic is growing the fastest with 9% of global new product launches in the first half of 2015 making such a claim, an increase of 3.4% over the same period two years earlier. GMO-free claims also saw marked growth.²

The Free-From Movement

While clean label claims are a hot trend in the food industry, the related "Free-From" movement isn't far behind. Once relegated to special diets for those with allergies and sensitivities, foods with Free-From claims are becoming popular with consumers who are making the choice to avoid certain ingredients or categories of food for health or religious reasons.

Claims like gluten-free, lactose-free, and gelatin-free, are leading to innovations in product development as food manufacturers seek functional alternatives to single ingredients ingredients that don't meet the desired claim. While there are few food ingredients that can be replaced with another single ingredient, a blend of carefully selected ingredients can usually be substituted to give consumers the ingredient food labels statements and eating characteristics they demand.

Dairy Alternatives on the Rise

One ingredient that is often eliminated from diets is dairy. No longer are dairy-free beverages solely for those with lactose intolerance as other consumers gravitate to drinks made with dairy alternatives. Boasting fewer calories and fat than their dairy-based counterparts, drinks made with non-dairy alternatives can offer similar indulgent texture attributes. Whether the protein source is nut milks like almond milk or beans like soy or peas, the addition of texturants and stabilizers creates textures that please consumers while also increasing the suspension, emulsification, and overall stability of the finished drink.³

Talk with Our Gum Gurus about Your Specific Beverage Stabilizer Needs

No matter the label claims you are formulating to or the protein source you choose, our Gum Gurus^® are always available to help you select a stabilizer that meets your specific needs. You can reach them via our technical service hotline (800) 899-3953/+1 (410) 273-7300 or online chat.

Resources

Video: What is Clean Labeling?

Download: Clean Label Hydrocolloids Reference Chart

Article: Clean Label Trend Drives Food Product Development

¹Clean Label & the Consumer: What consumers are looking for, Innova Market Insights, Arnhem, The Netherlands, October 2015.

²Top 10 Trends for 2016, Innova Market Insights, Arnhem, The Netherlands, February 2016.

³Dairy Alternative Drinks, Sub-Category Report H1 2015, Innova Market Insights, Arnhem, The Netherlands, November 2015.

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Technical Service Representative Adam Bosset spends much of his day fielding questions from customers who reach out to us and, recently, the topic of replacing pectin in acidified protein beverages has been a common query. We asked him to provide recommendations for these applications:

"Our R&D team has identified gum synergies that mimic pectin's mouthfeel, ability to suspend and, most importantly protect protein. Proteins can potentially denature and clump in acidic environments which makes understanding the isoelectric point of proteins critical to the replacement process.

If you are formulating fruit based drinks, Ticaloid^® PRO 148 OG stabilizes and suspends protein particulates. For dairy based coffee beverages, Ticaloid PRO D159 OG creates an indulgent drinking experience by enhancing mouthfeel. To reduce the awareness of particulates in juice beverages Ticaloid 310 S is a great cold water soluble option for pulp suspension."

To talk with Adam or another Gum Guru^® on our technical service team about your specific texture and stability needs, call our technical support hotline at (800) 899-3953/+1(410) 273-7300 or click the chat button on this page.

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Late last summer, I wrote about the energy TIC Gums is applying to innovate solutions for customer labeling goals. Our team is particularly well positioned to help customers design products with specific label requirements thanks to our expertise in basic textural attribute mapping and functional stabilization. Our customer's goal may be an organic label, a "free-from" formula challenge, or even an ingredient substitution due to supply shortage. Together, we are able to identify the most objective texture and stability requirements of a particular end product, evaluate the label requirements and recommend the best solution.

A key success factor for TIC Gums is our endless drive to develop new ingredients as tools for our applications team and, ultimately, as new solutions for our customers. We also need to constantly improve our understanding of existing ingredients and how they can be utilized and formulated in new ways to leverage each ingredient's strengths. I'm excited by how the new products we're introducing in this newsletter touch on both of those ideals.

Our latest development combines the oldest of gums with one of the newest to provide a unique clean label solution for ready-to-drink (RTD) protein beverages. Gum Acacia has a 5,000 year history, and as one of the world's largest acacia manufacturers, we understand this ingredient's unique mouthcoating and emulsification properties better than anyone. Gellan Gum has recently been introduced to our portfolio and since it stabilizes at low usage levels it has minimal impact on texture. However, by combining the two, mouthfeel is enhanced, emulsification is provided and process tolerances are increased. By leveraging the functionality of both of these hydrocolloids, we have created a solution that satisfies all of the requirements for RTD beverage manufacturers. In fact, the novel use of acacia in these end products means more texture without adding viscosity and emulsification that can replace less label friendly ingredients such as lecithin.

This is the formulating direction of the food industry. It is no longer good enough to just solve the technical challenge. It must also be done with ingredient limitations and marketing goals in mind. As the oldest hydrocolloid company in America, our Gum Gurus^® are here to help you achieve your label goals whatever they may be.

The TIC Times is your source for the latest news on food texture and stability.

Inside this issue:

Stabilizing RTD Protein Beverages with Gellan Gum

Video: What Is Clean Label?

Pectin Substitutes for Food Manufacturers

FAQ: Pectin Replacement in Acidified Protein Beverages

Trends in Clean Label Claims in Foods

Organic, Free-From, or an Ingredient Substitution? We Can Help!

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Producing commercially baked cakes is far from a "piece of cake"

A consumer enjoying a slice of a birthday cake may have no idea of the balancing act that is required to create a cake that can withstand the manufacturing process and extended shelf-life and still maintain its quality.

Often, creating the ideal texture and crumb in commercial cake systems requires the use of food gums and stabilizers. Depending on the stabilizer chosen, gums can perform any number of functions in cakes including thickening, stabilizing, and emulsifying the batter, suspending inclusions, or increasing water-holding capacity, which creates a moister cake with improved shelf-life and freeze/thaw stability.

When formulating a cake system that will be commercially baked in either a retail or wholesale bakery, maintaining a consistent batter viscosity is critical to product quality and ease of manufacturing. Batter that is too thin tends to be inconsistent and unstable which results in a cake that has a tight crumb on the bottom and a lighter crumb closer to the top. A batter that is too thick is harder for manufacturing to work with because it is difficult to pump or accurately deposit.

Why should I use gums and stabilizers in my cake formulation?

In cakes, gums primarily function to improve batter characteristics which affect final texture and appearance. Gums can provide batter viscosity, increase moisture retention, and produce a more cohesive crumb structure.

Some of the gums commonly used in cake formulations include:

• Alginate--contributes a "gel-like" functionality which creates a softer texture
• Cellulose Gum (CMC)—thickens batter, improves batter stability which contributes a fine, consistent crumb throughout the cake, increases water-holding capacity which slows staling
• Gum Acacia--adds little viscosity, all-natural* emulsifier is an excellent film-former which makes it useful for maintaining stiff peaks in angel food formulations
• Xanthan Gum--increases rise in the cake by entrapping leavening gases and suspending any inclusions added to the cake batter

Should I use individual gums or a blend of gums?

While individual gums can be useful in commercial cakes, you may have to spend a significant amount of time experimenting to determine the levels that work best for your formulation. For example, xanthan gum is a great stabilizer for cake batters but if you overdose it you can end up with a cake that is too moist. If you instead use a gum system that contains xanthan and a complementing gum such as guar gum or cellulose gum, you have both stability and increased tolerance to overdosing.

If you are short on time to tweak the ratios of gums in your formulation, a complete stabilizer system designed specifically for bakery applications may be your best bet.

Some of our popular blends for cakes:

• Action Gum 8200
• Ticaloid 451 T (non-GMO version) Note: this system is sensitive to high levels of calcium. In those cases, try Ticaloid GF-313 or Ticaloid Lite instead. 
• Ticaloid Lite
• Ticaloid GF-313
  
• Ticaloid GR 5420 (non-GMO version) 

How should I incorporate gums into my formulation?

Any gum or stabilizer can simply be dry blended with the rest of your dry ingredients. Add at least 5 parts water per 1 part gum to the formulation to adjust the batter to the desired viscosity.

How can gums help in my gluten-free cake?

In general, gluten-free batter is thinner because gluten-free flours may not have the same water holding capacity of their gluten-containing counterparts. Common defects in gluten-free cakes include a dense texture with low volume and a dry crumb that lacks cohesiveness and breaks apart easily. Gums can build a fine, consistent crumb and retain moisture which improves cohesiveness and slows staling.

Consumers commonly describe gluten-free cakes as having a "gritty," "grainy," or "sandy" texture. Using our Texture Revolution^® lexicon, we would describe this sensory experience as "awareness of particulates." The addition of gums often reduces the negative impact of this texture attribute.

Do you have any tips for incorporating gums in commercially-baked gluten-free cakes?

You can use the same gums in gluten-free cakes that you would use in conventional cakes but they are usually used a higher level—typically 0.25-0.50% based on flour weight. You'll need to add about 5-10 parts water for 1 part gum to the formulation to maintain batter viscosity.

To talk with a Gum Guru^® on our technical service team about your specific texture and stability needs, call our technical support hotline at (800) 899-3953/+1(410) 273-7300 or click the chat button on this page.

Other Resources

Download: Formulating Gluten-free White Bread

Download: Prototype Formulations for Gluten-free Bread and Muffins

Stabilizer Recommendations for Bakery Applications

With citrus pectin supply still tight, stabilizer offers options for RTD Juices & Teas

There was a time when the only choice a consumer might have when buying milk, if they were lucky, was the choice between white or chocolate milk.

It wasn't too long ago that we may have thought the category was getting complicated when we could choose the amount of fat in the gallon of milk we were picking up at the grocery store.

And the milk was always produced from cows.

Today, the dairy and dairy alternative beverage category is all about choice. Consumers can make purchasing decisions about their beverages based on factors like health concerns, flavor, or convenience and the beverage category reflects those changes.

Every year, our Gum Gurus^® answer hundreds of questions about emulsions. Whether the customer calls our technical support hotline, chats on the website, or visits us at a tradeshow, they are often asking about emulsions that push the current technology to its limit.

Oil-in-water emulsion basics

An emulsion is the system that results from the mixing of two immiscible or partially miscible liquids, called the phases of the emulsion, and one or more emulsifiers in the proper ratio that keeps one phase consistently dispersed in the other. Usually, one of the phases is aqueous—the so-called "water phase"—and the other is an oil in the wide sense.

Emulsions tend to be naturally unstable due to differences in the specific gravity of the two phases and variation in the size of the oil droplets. Formulators can increase emulsion stability by incorporating emulsifiers and weighting agents.

While gum acacia has been the gold standard in emulsifying flavors, colors, and beverages, there are certain types of formulations that are outside the capabilities of gum acacia or other commercially available stabilizers.

The TIC Times is your source for the latest news on food texture and stability.

In this issue:

"Could You Suggest A Stabilizer For A Flavor Emulsion?"

Formulating Gelatin-Free Gummy Confections

Non-Dairy Beverage Category: All About Choice

Replacing Pectin In RTD Juices & Teas

Using Gums In Commercial Cake Systems

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Learn more about our Xanthan and Gellan products.

Videos in the Basics of Food Gums Series

• Introduction (video runtime 2:27)
• Gum Arabic: Tree Saps & Plant Exudates (video runtime 3:07)
• Guar Gum: Seed Gums (video runtime 3:37)
• Carrageenan, Agar, & Alginate: Seaweed Extracts (video runtime 3:10)
• Konjac & Inulin: Root Gums (video runtime 3:07)
• Xanthan Gum & Gellan Gum: Fermentation Gums (this video, runtime 3:30)

Transcript

In this episode, we’ll be looking at the category of Food Gums known as Fermentation Gums. In our first video, we provided a little background on food gums as a whole. If you’d like to watch that video for a quick introduction, click the link in this video or in the description below to check it out.

Fermentation gums is a category that doesn’t get a lot of attention but the uses of these gums are quite extensive. The two most popular gums from this category are Xanthan gum and Gellan gum. These gums are derived from the coatings of naturally occurring bacteria. When these bacteria are exposed to a controlled fermentation bath, they excrete a coating that is then sterilized, separated and milled. The uses for this gum are many; the most common being in dressings, sauces and beverages. The superior stabilizing attributes of these gums makes them not only a highly desired food additive but a widely used one as well.

The use of Gellan gum has grown in popularity due to its beneficial suspension, texture and gelling attributes. Gellan also fits the growing trend of clean label ingredients because of its favorable perception among manufacturers and consumers.  Not only that but Gellan works at low usage rates, and in a variety of applications from liquids to gels providing desirable stability and mouthfeel. In addition, it can be used together with other gums to provide complementary benefits.

Out of these different fermentation gums, there’s one that you’re more likely to hear about and that’s Xanthan. Xanthan is derived from the naturally occurring bacteria Xanthomonas and is widely used in the food industry for its incredible ability to provide both texture and stabilization. You’re likely to find it on labels for products like sauces, dressings, beverages, and even gluten-free bread. Xanthan was discovered in the 1960’s as scientists were attempting to create new food gums for commercial purposes. After its introduction to the food industry in the early 1970’s, Xanthan became a point of incredible interest for scientists and product developers and is widely used to this day.

So you might ask: “why is there xanthan in my salad dressing?”  Salad dressing is one of the more popular applications of xanthan gum. We all know that traditional salad dressing tends to separate, hence why we shake the bottle before we pour. The great advantage of using Xanthan in Italian dressing for example, is its ability to keep the elements like oil, water and seasoning from separating out into those layers you commonly see. No matter how long the dressing sits, you’re going to retain a uniform mixture of ingredients when Xanthan is included in the dressing.

So to wrap up, in this episode we were able to touch on a new category of gums as well as look at the beneficial characteristics of Xanthan, one of the more widely known Fermentation Gums.

If you’d like to learn more, then check out this book by Andrew Hoefler called “Hydrocolloids”. It’s a great overview of common hydrocolloids. Also, there are some online journals you can reference for additional research. They can get technical but don’t let that stop you.

We hope you found this video helpful and perhaps presented a new perspective into the world of Food Science. Thanks for watching. 

The TIC Times is your source for the latest news on food texture and stability.

In this issue:

What You Need to Know When Formulating Hot Sauce

TIC Gums Earns Excellent Rating On SQF Audit

Video: Xanthan Gum & Gellan Gum: Fermentation Gums

TIC Gums & Cornell University Name Ice Cream University Winners

Prototype Formulations: Pectin Replacement in Acidified Dairy Beverages

TIC Gums at IFT Food Expo 2016

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Hot sauce sales have increased by 150% since 2000, more than all other condiments combined. A market that once saw little variation is now a billion dollar industry, helping Americans add a spectrum of multicultural flavors to their regular meals. Hot sauce has produced a flurry of fanfare in recent years, acquiring a cult following of courageous palates that are willing to travel across the country to find and collect different varieties. There is a little something for everyone, with hot sauces ranging in flavor from the white hot Carolina Reaper to the milder jalapeno. And with such a diverse assortment still growing every day, there is no denying that the hot sauce business is heating up.

How is Hot Sauce Made?

The hot sauce manufacturing process starts with choosing peppers based on the manufacturer’s preferred flavor, spiciness and ability to source. Once selected, these peppers are then salted before sitting in batches to ferment for months without air exposure. The added salt acts as a preservative to protect from microbial growth as the peppers ripen over time. The resulting mash is strained, the salt content is diluted to about 6% by adding water, and the pH is adjusted to about 3.0 by adding vinegar. Once individual flavorings and seasonings have been added, the product is jarred or bottled for consumers.

Those outside the food industry may only think about food safety when an outbreak of food borne illness makes the news, however, the implementation and maintenance of a food safety and quality program is critical to ensuring a safe supply chain.

As part of its continued commitment to providing quality texturizers and stabilizers, TIC Gums recently passed its annual Safe Quality Food (SQF) audit with an “Excellent” rating. The company was audited against the most stringent level of the SQF Code, known as Level 3.

This is the sixth consecutive year TIC Gums received the highest possible rating of “Excellent.” 

“Achieving and maintaining a Level 3 certification requires commitment from all employees, not just those in the quality department, and is a reflection of TIC Gums’ strong quality culture,” observed Bradd Eldridge, Director, Quality & Regulatory Affairs.

The SQF audit focuses on food safety, security and quality, and is accredited as one of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) audit schemes now being expected by major food manufacturers and retailers.

For our customers, our successful SQF audit may meet their requirement for onsite audits, eliminating their need to audit our facilities individually or making it possible to extend the time between audits.

Click here to download our newest SQF certificate  

You can find hot sauce almost anywhere in today’s culinary landscape. It embellishes dishes of every origin in large restaurant chains and privately owned dining establishments alike and is one of the more popular condiments in most household kitchens across the country. Recently, the hot sauce craze has reached a fever pitch due to the versatility and extensive available selection of this adaptable condiment.