Ulrick & Short Highlights Role for Clean Label Ingredients in Seafood

23 Oct 2014 --- Leading British clean label starch specialist Ulrick & Short is urging fish and seafood manufacturers to adopt clean label ingredients and more transparent processes, to help cut costs and improve efficiency.

The company has been instrumental to date in encouraging the reduction and removal of phosphates in processed prawns and fish, including scampi. Ulrick & Short believes more fish and seafood processors can benefit from reduced costs and improved health claims by specifying clean label, non-GM replacement ingredients. In fact, many industry leaders are already cleaning up their products by replacing ‘rogue’ ingredients such as phosphates and modified starches, which have been used historically to help increase product yield and improve product moistness.

Ulrick & Short can address the industry’s challenges from several angles, with clean label ingredients that meet demand for many applications, from soaking and tumbling to coatings, batters and sauces. For example, Ezimoist allergen-free starches are ideal for soaking whole white fish and prawns, whilst also proving useful in tumbling applications. For products such as fishcakes, the U&S range of Complex binders are invaluable in ensuring the integrity of the product with no detriment to flavour and moistness, whilst also facilitating a wheat based label declaration.

Not content with improving basic yield and succulence, U&S has also focused on ingredients that improve adhesion in tempura batters, and increase crispness in breaded products and coatings. As an added bonus, the company specialises in clean label starches that help to achieve texture stability in sauces, an essential element of many fish dishes and ready meals. Its Delyte range of functional fat replacers reduce fat in sauces of all types whilst maintaining or even enhancing mouthfeel and indulgence, making nutritional fish dishes even healthier.

Director Adrian Short explained: “There’s no doubt that fish and seafood companies are much more aware of consumer demand for healthier products that look appetising and don’t compromise indulgence, and are responding accordingly. At Ulrick & Short we have a team of food technologists dedicated to helping our customers find the best way to achieve excellence in their products and processes whilst also reducing costs. We’re confident that we offer the widest range of functional clean label ingredients available from any one British supplier and we would urge manufacturers in fish, seafood, coatings and sauces to take advantage of our technical expertise to identify and address the challenges they face.”

Ulrick & Short is the leading British-owned starch specialist, supplying household name food manufacturers across the world with naturally gluten-free non-GM ingredients, and innovating across a diverse range of food industry sectors including bakery, fish, meat, dairy, soups and sauces. The company’s team of dedicated sector specialists and food technologists is based in Yorkshire and works hand in hand with customers to maximise value from product development.