By Carla Zanetos Scully
Health and nutrition continue to be on the minds of
consumers. That’s why fats and oils suppliers are continually developing
products that have lower saturates and no trans fatty acids.
“Manufacturers
continue to look for new confectionery fats that have a reduced saturated
fatty-acid content, but still provide the structure and melting characteristics
consumers desire in a confectionery coating,” says Adam Lechter, product
services and development manager at ADM Cocoa.
Noting the interest
in sugar reduction as well, Lechter says, “ADM Cocoa has made formula and
process changes to meet these requirements, such as utilizing different
sweeteners, fat and emulsifier systems that can help achieve these
requirements.”
The Milwaukee-based company uses palm kernel-based oils as the
predominant confectionery fat because of the low trans fats and its ability to
mimic the melting profile of cocoa butter.
The level of
trans fats in cocoa butter alternatives (CBAs) remain a big issue, says Rick
Schwartz, technical service manager at Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate.
“More and
more companies are asking for it and requiring it,” he says. “Most companies
require both no trans and no hydrogenated fats or oils in their products. (So)
it is a growing market.”
“With regards to
CBAs, the emphasis has been on cocoa butter substitutes using fractionated
blends of palm kernel and palm oil that have a steep melting point,” he adds.
“This combination meets the no trans and no hydrogenated requirements but still
have slight performance issues - shine, gloss and release from the mold - when
compared to blends of fractionated palm kernel oil and hydrogenated palm.”
Ed Wilson, AAK’s
v.p. of sales and marketing, sees gradual acceptance of cocoa butter equivalents
(CBEs) when pure chocolate is not the main selling point. “I see this continuing if cocoa butter prices stay at these levels
or climb even higher,” he adds.
Another factor, Wilson notes, is the
ability of CABs to acclimate to warmer climates or even poor distribution
issues.
“Real chocolate couldn’t stand up to the rough distribution streams in
food and drug chains,” he says, noting the higher and fluctuating temperatures
can be minimized a bit with CBAs.
“We have seen a
general trend toward using compound coatings as a way to reduce the cost in
many applications that historically utilized chocolate,” adds Lechter, of ADM.
“However, consumers still look for the flavor and mouth-feel of milk chocolate
and bittersweet chocolate, and manufacturers prefer to label products as such,
according to the Standards of Identity; something that the use of CBAs does not
permit.”
Cocoa butter
replacers (CBRs) have more tolerance for real chocolate, says Ed Finchum,
director of quality assurance for Anthony-Thomas Candy Co., Columbus, Ohio,
but don’t the same mouth feel and are waxy. CBSs have a good melting profile,
he notes, but aren’t tolerant with the cocoa butter and can bloom faster.
CBEs are most
capable of cocoa butter-like hardness at room temperature, yet provide that
melt-in-your-mouth feel similar to cocoa butter because they are made from fat
similar to cocoa butter, which needs to be tempered like real chocolate,
continues Finchum. They are also compatible with real chocolate, unlike CBSs,
and can be called chocolate in some parts of the world, but not in the United States.
Blommer has
recently created a butterscotch-flavored coating and a caramel-flavored
coating. “It’s a big challenge to deliver a caramel or butterscotch flavor,”
Dyer continues. “They’re always associated with water-based products and
chocolate and compounds have zero water. So, we mimic their flavor from a
water-based application to an oil-based application.”
And even though
there is the same challenge with fruit flavors, Blommer has come up with a
lemon-, strawberry- and orange- flavored compounds. “People are always looking
for something new,” Dyer says.
Another area of
interest, according to AAK’s Wilson, is with
filling fats. One reasons, he says, is due to substituting current filling fats
for more compatible blends. Other reasons include delivering a more powerful
flavor component and increasing shelf life.
“Many new
products in this category have been developed with nutritional parameters in
mind as well, meaning non hydro, zero trans, and in some cases, low saturates
as well,” Wilson adds.
Seven different premium filling fats have come
out of this interest, from AAK, under the Confao
and EsSence names, each tailored to
specific applications. All have no trans fats and no hydrogenation. The EsSence brand is also lower in saturated
fats to give customers the “good-for-you” foods they want.
Where
manufacturers may choose to use Confao
for their boxed chocolate fillings or truffles, Wilson
notes other companies may choose EsSence
for its nutritional profile in snack products. He also says the Confao has more functional attributes,
specifically it is more capable of becoming solid and holding more structure.
“Vegetable oil
suppliers, especially those with a wide product range, have done an excellent
job for the most part in developing a great number of fat systems from a lot of
different raw materials for many food applications,” adds Anthony-Thomas’s
Finchum. “There are many different CBS, CBR, CBE and filling fat systems out
there so end users can find many alternatives depending on the advantages and
disadvantages of each particular fat system that ultimately suit their
particular application.”
“It’s not as much
of an issue in the candy industry as in other industries,” he continues. Even
CBAs with trans fats would be added at such low levels that it wouldn’t provide
enough trans fats to be an issue, he notes, because it would be lower than the
0.5 grams per serving required to be contained in the nutritional profile.
“Candy is candy,”
adds Dyer, noting there may be too much emphasis on it being nutritious. “It’s
an indulgence product. It’s supposed to give you pleasure.”
