Bakers Urged to Use Egg Alternatives

As a result, bakers and industrial manufacturers have been urged to use alternatives to eggs, such as Macphie GlenGlaze and Cold Water Paste Glaze, to avoid egg price volatility without compromising on quality.

16 April 2012 --- The new Welfare of Laying Hens Directive has led to severe shortages and soaring egg prices across the EU. Egg producers have been forced to use larger cages to give hens more space to move around. However, as many as 13 countries across the European Union, including Spain, Italy and Poland, have admitted that their egg industries are not ready to meet the new requirements.

As a result, bakers and industrial manufacturers have been urged to use alternatives to eggs, such as Macphie GlenGlaze and Cold Water Paste Glaze, to avoid egg price volatility without compromising on quality. Generations of bakers have used Macphie glazes to add a rich, long-lasting shine to their pastries, sausage rolls, pies and hot cross buns.

Macphie Technical Director, Fraser Hogg, said: “The rise in egg prices and limited availability is unprecedented. There has been virtually a four-fold increase in powdered egg prices since January and prices are still rising sharply, due to the volatility of supply and demand, which is a major concern.

“Some small and medium size British egg farmers could not bear the expense of complying with the new cage regulations and have gone out of business and the fact we cannot import from non-compliant EU countries is affecting everyone.”

“Egg alternatives such as GlenGlaze offer the perfect solution to overcome this uncertainty. They are designed to improve the visual appearance of pies, pastries, hot cross buns and baked products. Now is the ideal time to switch.”

Macphie glazes offer a range of advantages versus eggs:

• Long ambient shelf life – no need for chilled storage or distribution
• Out-performs egg for sterility, consistency, performance & shelf-life
• Ready-to-use, minimal or no preparation required
• Less clean-downs than egg

The Macphie Glazes range includes the following:

GlenGlaze: A ready-to-use, liquid glaze designed to add a natural, golden finishing touch to all types of savoury and confectionery products. It gives a bright, rich, long-lasting shine. Available in 1 litre, 10 litre and 25 litre bag-in-box and 1000 litre formats.

Sweet Glaze: A ready-to-use, liquid glaze developed for sweet applications. Unlike sugar bun washes, Sweet Glaze is contact-wrappable and will not stick to the packaging. Flavours eg. citrus and spice oils can be added for a variety of applications. Available in 1 litre, 10 litre and 25 litre bag-in-box and 1000 litre formats.

Cold Water Paste Glaze: A cost-effective paste glaze concentrate to meet the needs of fully automated industrial bakers and food manufacturers. Once re-constituted with water, it gives a rich, long-lasting gloss, is contact-wrappable and won’t stick to the packaging. Available in a 8kg pail.