Ammonium Phosphatide (E 442) approved for use in the US

One of the restrictions for use of Ammonium Phosphatide by the chocolate industry has been on the legal side. Until recently US has not permitted the use of this emulsifier for any food applications.

19/09/07 Ammonium Phosphatide has for many years been considered to be the best alternative to lecithin (E 322) in manufacturing of chocolate and vegetable fat based coatings. Ammonium Phosphatide and lecithin can both do the same job by lowering the plastic viscosity in liquid chocolate masses.

Industrial manufacturing of chocolate requires full control of the flow properties during all process steps in order to optimize production and costs. Emulsifiers play an essential role in this process and by combining different emulsifiers, the experienced chocolate manufacturer can target a specific fat content in his recipes and furthermore obtain the exact flow properties necessary for his process plant.

Lecithin used to be the preferred choice of emulsifier for chocolate. As most of the commercially available lecithins derive from soybean there has been a growing concern by the consumers, retailers and manufactures that the lecithin might originate from genetically modified soybean plants.

The demand for non-GMO lecithin has driven up prices and there has been some concern in the market that the supply of Identity Preserved Soy Lecithin might not meet the total demands from the food industry.

Alternative emulsifiers systems have therefore gained a bigger market share over the last 10 years, and especially Ammonium Phosphatide has found its way into more and more chocolate and vegetable fat based coating recipes.

Besides having a safe non-GMO status, Ammonium Phosphatide provides other advantages for the chocolate industry:

• Flavour neutral even at high dosages.

• Ability to lower the Plastic Viscosity without bringing up the Yield Value.

• Easy handling as Ammonium Phosphatide does not thicken at temperatures below 40°C.

• High safety on the microbiological side as the emulsifier reaches more than 14°C during processing and is practically water-free.

One of the restrictions for use of Ammonium Phosphatide by the chocolate industry has been on the legal side. Until recently US has not permitted the use of this emulsifier for any food applications.

This situation changed when the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) on June 29th 2007 published a GRAS notification opening up for use of Ammonium Phosphatide as an emulsifier in chocolate and vegetable fat coatings at a level of up to 0.7 percent. (Agency Response Letter GRAS Notice No. GRN 000219). Palsgaard is proud to say that this breakthrough took place on the basis of Palsgaard’s initiative.

This change means that the US chocolate industry now has the possibility to introduce a new emulsifier into their recipes, but equally important that chocolate manufactures exporting products into the US market, now safely can include Ammonium Phosphatide in their recipes.

Palsgaard offers Ammonium Phosphatide under the brand name Palsgaard4448 and are able to provide application support, technical product information as well as samples for customer trials.