Sternchemie Eyes Red Palm Oil as Natural Colorant with Added Value

Health, convenience and sustainability are key trends in the food market, which researchers expect to continue to gain in importance. So it’s no wonder that more and more manufacturers are advertising their products as “Free of preservatives, food colouring and artificial flavours.” Consumers are paying more attention to what they buy, and to the ingredients.

31 Jan 2013 --- But since the appearance of a food product is very important in the purchase decision, clean label colorants are more and more in demand. This is a trend that Michael Scheinert, Product Manager at Sternchemie in Hamburg, a company that specialises in lipids, can confirm: “As consumer health awareness grows, our customers are more and more interested in red palm oil.” This natural, vitamin-rich oil gives many different foods a golden-yellow to orange-red colour.

Food colour is a subject that underscores a major sales factor in food - enjoyment. Eating is a sensual experience involving sight as well as taste. Grey margarines, white vanilla pudding, or pale crisps or chips would not be popular with consumers. Red palm oil makes it possible to combine enjoyment and health. The oil is derived from the flesh of the palm fruits, whose high carotene content gives them an intensive red colour. According to Michael Scheinert, “Our SternRed palm oil is refined by a patented physical process, which lets our cooperation partner in Malaysia produce a virgin palm oil that is free of chemical additives.” Since the process takes place at low temperatures, the oil retains its high levels of carotenoids and vitamin E complexes, which also have a positive influence on the shelf-life. As natural antioxidants, the vitamins protect the oil from going rancid, so that it keeps longer. Another plus is that the gentle processing means that SternRed has no trans fats.

This red palm oil is colour and heat-stable, flavour-neutral, and can be used as a problem-free substitute for synthetic colourings like beta-carotene. It also offers price advantages over other colorant ingredients like carrot extract. When used for deep-frying it gives crisps and chips a golden-yellow colouring. It also gives an appetising colour to cakes and biscuits, desserts, ready meals and pasta, margarines, mayonnaise and dressings. The big advantage is that red palm oil need only be declared in the ingredients as vegetable oil, making it very declaration-friendly. As a natural product it also has a positive image. In some European markets red palm oil is still not familiar to consumers, but it is already being termed a “healthy oil” on many health portals. In terms of sustainability SternRed also meets the high expectations of consumers, with RSPO certification.

Sternchemie GmbH & Co. KG in Hamburg, Germany is a specialist in food lipids, focusing on lecithin products and MCT oils. The portfolio also includes red palm oil and spray-dried coconut milk. As a subsidiary of the owner-operated, independent Stern-Wywiol Gruppe, Sternchemie has access to the expertise and modern applications technology of its sister companies. These include Mühlenchemie for flour improvers, DeutscheBack for baking ingredients, HERZA Schokolade for functional chocolate pieces, Hydrosol for stabilisers and emulsifiers, OlbrichtArom for flavourings, SternVitamin for vitamin and mineral premixes and SternEnzym for enzymes (baked goods and confections, alcohol and beer production). The sister company SternMaid works in the contract manufacture of powdered food and nutritional additives.