Food manufacturers have been increasingly drawn to natural antioxidants for food preservation largely because they allow for clean label ingredient listings. Kalsec said that it is responding to this preference by building on the existing clean label Herbalox Seasoning range for extending shelf life in meats, fish, sauces, oils, drinks and spices.
Herbalox Seasoning XT – which would appear on a food label as ‘rosemary extract’, ‘herb extract’ or ‘natural flavoring’ – has been developed to minimize degradation in products that are sensitive to flavor and aroma, the company claims.
Kalsec’s director of product development for natural antioxidants Gary Augustine said: “Our customers were asking for a natural antioxidant that imparts little or no flavor to their finished product and now we are able to respond to their needs with XT.”
He added: “The addition of XT to our portfolio allows us to offer our customers the broadest range of natural antioxidant solutions, with maximum oxidation control and a clean label.”
Natural antioxidant market
Other herbs used to produce natural antioxidants include sage and melissa, and Kikkoman, the Japanese firm best known for its soy sauce, also produces a natural antioxidant from grape seeds.
According to Leatherhead Foods International (LFI), while “natural antioxidants…have shown stronger than average growth, sales of synthetic antioxidants in comparison remain relatively static.”
It said that although the US is the largest user of antioxidants for food preservation, accounting for 43 percent of the world market in 2006, LFI said that it is the French company Naturex that claims to lead the global rosemary extract market, with a 20 percent share of sales.
Global sales of antioxidants for use in foods were valued at $350m in 2007, up 13 percent on 2003, when sales were valued at $310m, LFI figures show.