Dairy trends to watch; FDA issues nanotech draft guidance; Saliva enzyme affects blood glucose

Dairy trends to watch
Flavored yogurts and enhanced milk are some of the top dairy products trends, according to the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association’s What’s in Store 2012 annual trends report.

The report, a secondary research trends report that compiles data and information from more than 150 industry resources, explains how yogurt products, including Greek yogurt, yogurt made with new fruit flavors, and yogurt made with daring flavor combinations like cappuccino and almond and orange and sea buckthorn, are becoming more acceptable. Other uses for yogurt such as substitutes for sour cream, mayonnaise, and cream cheese in recipes are being suggested more often. Craft yogurts, too, are part of the growing yogurt trend. The manufacturers of these yogurts emphasize the yogurt’s milk source such as goat and sheep, processing methods, and packaging.

Enhanced milk is an emerging product category, and it includes milk that contains blends of ingredients that target children and women, milk blends of cow milk and nut milk, flavored milks, and milk enriched with vitamins, minerals, and other ingredients used as meal replacements or to promote better sleep.

Snack attack
Global launches of snack foods increased by double digits in 2011, with savory and salty snacks accounting for just less than two-thirds of the total and snack nuts and seeds accounting for the remainder, according to Innova Market Insights.

The largest increases in snack product launches over the year were in Asia and Latin America; launches in Asia were about 40% of total snack product launches. Europe followed with 30% (the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands had some of the highest percentages of new launches within Europe).

Nearly 40% of global snack product launches in 2011 had a health positioning such as whole grain, gluten-free, low and light, vitamin- and mineral-fortified, omega-3 fatty acids, and bone health. In the United States, snack product launches with health claims like these were more than 60%. Global launches of snacks with a gluten-free claim were 10% of the total snack product launches.

FDA issues nanotech draft guidance
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a draft guidance on the use of nanotechnology by the food industry. The guidance outlines what food manufacturers should consider when determining whether changes in manufacturing processes, including those that utilize nanotechnology, create significant changes in foods and ingredients.

FDA is accepting comments on the draft guidance. For more information, visit www.fda.gov/Food/NewsEvents/ConstituentUpdates/ucm301097.htm.

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Saliva enzyme affects blood glucose
Genetically determined differences in salivary amylase affect blood glucose levels after starch ingestion, with higher enzyme activity related to lower blood glucose, according to scientists at Monell Chemical Senses Center.

The results show that the enzyme has a significant metabolic role in starch digestion. Individuals who have higher levels of the enzyme rapidly digest starch while maintaining balanced blood glucose levels, meaning that these people are better adapted to eat starches, said Abigail Mandel, lead author and a nutritional scientist at Monell.

The study, “High Endogenous Salivary Amylase Activity is Associated with Improved Glycemic Homeostasis following Starch Ingestion in Adults,” was published in the May 2012 issue of Journal of Nutrition.

Under pressure
Newer applications for high-pressure processing include using it along with temperature manipulation to texturize and pasteurize specific meat and meat products simultaneously to create innovative meat products, concluded a review article published in Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety.

The researchers noted that these applications combining high-pressure processing with other preservation processes were developed to improve microbial inactivation while overcoming the results of color and texture changes and decreased sensory acceptability that may result from using only high-pressure processing at levels more than 400 MPa.

The study, “New Insights into the High-Pressure Processing of Meat and Meat Products,” appeared in the May 2012 issue of Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety.

Ensuring safe food imports
As more U.S. Food and Drug Administration-regulated products are imported to the United States, the FDA has outlined the strategies that it and its partners are taking to ensure the quality and safety of imported products.

About 50% of fresh fruits, 20% of fresh vegetables, and 80% of the seafood consumed in the U.S. comes from abroad, and each year from 2005 to 2011, food imports have increased by an average of 10%, according to FDA. In Global Engagement Report, the agency describes the steps being taken to strengthen global regulatory capacity-building efforts, develop science-based regulatory standards, share information and data globally to quickly identify and respond to public health emergencies, and others. FDA officials at its international offices in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East continue to work with local regulatory agents in these locations to increase the understanding of FDA regulations regarding imported food products. For more information, visit www.fda.gov.

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Blocking fat at cellular level
A compound found in red wine and some fruits helps block the cellular processes that allow fat cells to develop and may one day lead to a method to control obesity, reported researchers at Purdue University.

The compound, piceatannol, which has a similar structure to resveratrol (resveratrol is converted to piceatannol after consumption), can prevent immature fat cells from developing and growing by altering the timing of gene expressions, gene functions, and insulin action during the process in which early-stage fat cells become mature fat cells (adipogenesis), said Kee-Hong Kim, an assistant professor of food science at Purdue. The results of Kim’s research found that the compound binds to insulin receptors of immature fat cells in the first stage of adipogenesis, which blocks insulin’s ability to control and activate genes that are responsible for further stages of fat cell development.

The study, “Piceatannol, Natural Polyphenolic Stilbene, Inhibits Adipogenesis via Modulation of Mitotic Clonal Expansion and Insulin Receptor-dependent Insulin Signaling in Early Phase of Differentiation,” appeared in the March 30, 2012, issue of Journal of Biological Chemistry. 

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What’s new with food companies
• AIDP’s KoACT® calcium and hydrolyzed collagen peptide ingredient has received GRAS status after safety assessment evaluations by AIBMR Life Sciences.

• The Biofortis business unit of Mérieux NutriSciences Corp. has opened a new global headquarters and research center in Saint-Herblain, France.

• D&S Food Ingredients recently received the Broker of the Year Award for its efforts on McIlhenny Co.’s Tabasco® brand Industrial Ingredients account, including increasing market share across sales territories.

• FutureCeuticals has opened Applied BioClinical Inc., a new bioclinical research facility in Irvine, Calif.

• Grain Processing Corp. has received certification from the British Retail Consortium Global Standards for Food Safety for its manufacturing facilities in Muscatine, Iowa, and Washington, Indiana.

• Kalsec Inc. has named Beijing Zhongbai Pioneer Chemical Products Co. Ltd. as distributor of its products to the northern China market.

• Naturex has acquired Valentine, an Indian-based company that produces fruit and vegetable powders and naturally derived colorings.

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• NSF International has opened an office in Germany that will offer management systems registration (ISO) and certification services for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

• Pacific Foods’ family-owned dairies have joined the Organic Valley Farmer Cooperative.

• Takasago International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. will build a manufacturing and research facility in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

• Tate & Lyle has reopened its Splenda® sucralose production facility in McIntosh, Ala., which closed in 2009, to meet growing demand for the ingredient.

• TNO Works has established the NutriTech consortium of research organizations and universities from around the world to develop standardized research methods for use in studies of the health effects of food.

• Wild Flavors will acquire Cargill’s global juice cold blends and compounds business, pending regulatory approval.

 

Karen Nachay,
Associate Editor
[email protected]