Share

2015 Review: The Key Ingredient Launches

Dec 2015

2015 was characterized by a fall in commodity prices after several uninterrupted years of rising prices. In Europe, the end of the EU milk quota system, coupled with various other market factors have led to a well-documented oversupply of milk and a subsequent fall in prices. Sugar intake has been an important topic for years, but 2015 was yet another major year with anti-sugar movements increasing. In the US, the big regulatory news of 2015 was the FDA’s final determination on partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), which requires manufacturers to stop using them by June 18, 2018, or submit a food additive petition for the safe use of PHOs. Overall, it was clear this year that clear label and free from foods have now truly entered the mainstream, while consumers who are regularly reduce their meat consumption rather than forgoing it altogether are also shaping new product development efforts. Key themes in ingredient development this year therefore included: clean label, vegetarian options, cost reduction, sodium replacement, protein enrichment with alternative proteins and vegetable fortification. Our 2015 review looks at some of this year’s supplier highlights.   


12/64

Arla Foods Ingredients has developed a unique new clean-label protein solution that tackles the long-standing problem of watery low-fat cottage cheese. Sales of cottage cheese are rising as consumers seek out healthy dairy products that are low in fat and high in protein. Just like Greek yogurt and Skyr, cottage cheese falls into this category and is enjoying a surge in popularity. Arla Foods Ingredients’ new dairy protein is simply added to the dressing (cream) that is combined with the curds to make cottage cheese. It reacts with the salt in the dressing to create a thicker texture and a creamier end product. This eliminates the need for the stabilizers frequently used to enhance the quality of low fat cottage cheese, which tends to have a runnier consistency than the standard version and is therefore more likely to require thickening. This is often done using starches and gums, which may mean sacrificing clean label status.