Corbion Completes Proactive Transition to Non-PHO

14 Feb 2017 --- Corbion are helping customers claim market leadership by offering a complete non-PHO portfolio. Leadership requires action and Corbion aren't waiting for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) deadline of removing all partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) from food products by June 2018. 

Corbion targeted January 2017 for providing non-PHO replacements for our entire portfolio, including emulsifiers, mixes and bases. Today, we announced that we have hit our target: Corbion has discontinued the use of PHOs and now offers a complete portfolio of drop-in non-PHO solutions with full functionality.

"By offering the complete portfolio now, Corbion helps customers make the transition smoothly and easily," says Jim Robertson, global product manager, emulsifiers. "Our customers can provide the eating experience and quality consumers expect, along with the cleaner labels they want."

Robertson says Corbion's proactive investment in non-PHO solutions allows customers to position their companies as market leaders while making food "cleaner, safer, simpler and tastier."

"As an example, when we converted to the Ensemble(TM) emulsifier solutions, bakers quickly realized they could maintain the flavor and texture of their goods without PHOs - and without sacrificing quality, handling or shelf life," Robertson says. "The results are delicious."

Jim Robertson told FoodIngredentsFirst: “Our team of experts has been developing and testing non-PHO solutions long before the FDA made its announcement of the June 2018 deadline to remove all partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) from food products. With the FDA’s announcement, we knew the PHO supply would begin to diminish as oil producers moved away from PHOs and the availability in the market would decline. So we set a realistic deadline to convert our own products, but also wanted to ensure we gave our customers enough time to convert their products to non-PHO. With converting to non-PHO, manufacturers need to find a non-PHO option that mimics the thermal stability and maintains the flavor, texture, quality, ease of handling and shelf stability that they used PHOs in bakery, confectionery, dairy and non-dairy, and processed food applications—and do so in a non-disruptive, time-consuming manner.”

He noted that the US food industry is on track as a whole to meet the PHO deadline, although there are still a few manufacturers who have yet to convert. “If they begin the process now, they should still have enough time to have a good understanding of what non-PHO solutions are available to them and validate those options as not every solution is equal in terms of performance and ease of handling. Our team of experts reformulated our portfolio of PHO emulsifiers to simplify manufacturers’ overall reformulation efforts, minimize reformulation hurdles and operational disruptions—providing them a drop-in solution that helps them maintain functionality, preserve product handling, sustain quality attributes and decrease reformulation costs.”

In terms of the company’s innovation pipeline to continue to expand the PHO free offering, Robertson noted. “Corbion has invested in new sweet-goods emulsifier capabilities. Later this year, we’ll be launching a portfolio of PHO-free, cost-effective sweet-goods emulsifiers that will improve overall quality of layer cakes, muffins, mixes and whipped toppings. Our line of sweet goods emulsifiers will provide customers with aeration/emulsion stability, promote fat reduction without compromising eating qualities, will improve moisture retention and increase shelf life. These emulsifier systems can also be used in oil-based batter systems to help the baker move away from partially hydrogenated shortenings,” he says. 

by Robin Wyers