Raisio completes new production lines for gluten-free oats

23 Jan 2020 --- Raisio Group has completed the update of its Nokia, Finland, oat mill following an €8 million (US$8.8 million) investment. The capacity and ability to produce gluten-free oats and oat fiber concentrates has been significantly increased to answer the growing demand for raw high-quality oat materials that are suitable for numerous applications from bakery to beverages.

Oats are naturally gluten-free, however, in normal production oats can often get contaminated with gluten-containing cereals. In the production process of gluten-free oats there are several different cleaning stages to remove the unwanted cereals. The absence of gluten is secured with multiple analysis on each batch, says Raisio.

“In our oat mill, several different purification phases are involved in the production of gluten-free oat products as a means of ensuring that other grains are removed from among the oats, Ilkka Ojansivu, Ingredients Manager, Raisio Group, tells FoodIngredientsFirst. “The products are run through several phases of analyses to ensure that they are completely gluten-free.”

“We have increased our oat mill’s capacity, but we do not share exact numbers on capacity. While our short-term growth expectations are focused, in particular, on the export of oat products to industrial customers, our overall strategic goal is to further build our Elovena brand in a way that will draw greater interest from international consumers,” the spokesperson adds.

The production of gluten-free oats at Raisio’s oat mill at Nokia will start this month. The process at the Nokia mill has been audited by a third party and the Finnish Coeliac Society has granted Raisio the right to use the crossed grain symbol in oat products manufactured at the new line.

The secure supply of gluten-free oats both in terms of volume and quality has been a key concern for industry and this is the problem Raisio wanted to solve.

“Oats are naturally healthy and bring nutritional value, variety and taste to gluten-free diets. A gluten-free diet can lack good quality carbohydrates, fiber and micronutrients,” adds the spokesperson. “The cereal highest in fiber and suitable for coeliacs is oats. The fiber of oats has several health benefits including lowering of cholesterol and balancing sugar levels. Oats are gentle on the stomach and are a well-tolerated grain.”

In addition, Raisio’s Oat Fibre Concentrates will be produced at the Nokia mill. They are manufactured naturally by a dry process with no chemical extraction steps involved. Moreover, the Oat Bran Concentrates are rich in beta-glucan and protein. Beta-glucan is the fiber in oats responsible for the EU-approved health benefits related to cholesterol-lowering, reduction of the blood glucose rise after meals and digestive health.

By Gaynor Selby