Cargill launches ‘Lecithin Quality Toolbox’

16/11/07 Cargill is introducing a new grading system for its standard and specialty lecithins. Food manufacturers around the world can now select from four main grades of lecithins that take into account a range of factors with particular focus on product quality, functionality and value.

Quality assurance and food safety standards are an integral part of all modern food manufacturing operations. However, the individual requirements of such standards can vary significantly, depending on the final product, what production technologies are used and what legal obligations may need to be considered.

“Cargill’s Lecithin Toolbox is really a risk management and value-for-money system,” says Hanns-Georg Bueschelberger, Product Line Director Lecithins at Cargill. “Some applications require an extremely detailed quality requirements specification, whilst at the other end of the scale, this degree of sophistication would be equivalent to using a sledge-hammer to crack a nut. Our Lecithin Toolbox will help food manufacturers to pin-point their needs much more precisely, to arrive at a clear and cost-effective product-application match.”

Four Main Quality Grades
Being derived from natural sources, lecithins are not a single chemical compound but a mixture of various different constituents that work in combination to contribute to the product’s final functionality. In view of this, lecithins can show significant variations in their composition, functionality and suitability for different applications.

Natural raw material variations are traditionally overcome by selective blending / standardization measures. However, the more detailed the quality requirements for specific food processing applications and the tighter the specifications that need to be met, the more efforts have to go into the selection of the right raw materials and the analytical proof of the end product’s functionality.

To help food processors to navigate through the complexities involved in the quality specification of lecithins, Cargill Texturizing Solutions offers now its extensive range of lecithins in four main grades: Standard, High, Premium and FQ-MaxX. These provide an easy-to-use, application-led approach to narrowing down the lecithin selection criteria - minimizing the need for long, elaborate questionnaires and extensive quality testing procedures.

80 Years Experience
Requirements can vary from colour or transparency specifications, to more complex requirements such as low-iron lecithin for margarine products and specific phospholipid patterns in chocolate or dietary applications. Microbiological standards can also vary considerably depending on the application - infant nutrition being a particularly sensitive area.

Prevention of food product recalls and contamination incidents is ever more a key factor in risk management and crisis prevention of the food industry. This applies particularly to processes involving lecithin, nature’s principal emulsifier, that rightly has a central place in today’s food manufacturing operations. With more than 80 years experience with lecithins, Cargill is able to offer a clearly signposted path through the complex process of lecithin product specification, quality assurance and risk management.