Thew Arnott Launches Vegan Shellac Coatings

21 Nov 2016 --- Specialist ingredient company Thew Arnott is now offering a natural vegan alternative to Shellac in its range of AraTAs coatings for confectionery and pharmaceutical products.

The barrier coating uses Zein - a type of protein found in maize which is then extracted by physical rather than chemical means - as its main ingredient. As a result, Zein is completely natural, odourless, tasteless and edible, making it ideal for many encapsulation, coating and adhesive applications. 

Unlike Shellac, which is produced by the lac beetle, the new coating is completely animal free; this means that manufacturers are able to label relevant confectionery and pharmaceutical products such as pills as vegan friendly. According to a recent poll by The Vegan Society, veganism has grown by 360% in the last year with many products now being labelling ‘vegan friendly’ as a selling point to this growing consumer base.

Zein is also gluten free, sugar free and available in non GM versions. And when used in food, the coating is classed as an ingredient rather than an additive so enabling manufacturers to make a whole range of clean label declarations.