Cargill Introduces Fiber Krunch Crisp Ingredient System

10/11/06 Cargill has announced that its Fiber Krunch crisp is commercially available. Cargill’s Fiber Krunch crisp is a proprietary ingredient system that delivers great taste, texture and high fiber in many tasty, convenient applications that appeal to consumers, such as bars, cereal, confections, snacks, yogurt and more. The innovative extruded crisp, which contains 35 percent dietary fiber, will be introduced as ready for commercial sale at the Chicago Section Institute of Food Technologists event.

With the Fiber Krunch crisp, food manufacturers can easily achieve “good” to “excellent” dietary fiber source claims in many applications, thereby making possible a variety of great tasting, high fiber foods that may also deliver satiety and weight management benefits.

“Consumers are increasingly aware that they need more fiber, but it can be difficult to find fiber-rich foods that taste good and have an appealing texture,” said Jon Wiersum, snacks and cereal category manager, Cargill. “In addition, food manufacturers can find it challenging to incorporate higher levels of fiber into products without compromising taste. With the Fiber Krunch crisp, manufacturers can readily achieve easy formulation and fiber claims in many applications.”

Cargill’s Fiber Krunch crisp resembles crisped rice and incorporates a superior crunchy texture into food products. The neutral color and taste provide versatility for easy and invisible fiber fortification. The Fiber Krunch crisp is available in one size, with additional size(s) forthcoming in 2007 to help Cargill’s customers develop unique products that address specific consumer needs.

Recent pilot study data shows that the Fiber Krunch crisp stays crispier in milk longer than other leading crisps on the market. In addition, the ingredients in the Fiber Krunch crisp (food starch-modified, chicory fiber) are safe: food starch-modified is an approved food additive and chicory fiber is GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe).

“Adding the Fiber Krunch crisp to Cargill’s portfolio of health-promoting solutions gives our customers a unique combination of benefits: crispy texture, stays crispy longer, great taste, 35 percent dietary fiber, 2.6 kcals/g and easy formulation in many applications to meet consumer needs,” said Peter Nielsen, starch product line manager, Cargill.

In addition, the Fiber Krunch crisp has 35 percent fewer calories than many carbohydrates (2.6 kcals/g compared to typical carbohydrate 4 kcals/g).