Advanced Food Systems says that it continues to develop its Microseal system dried powders to produce reduced calorie, lower oil products that can prevent frozen foods like pasta and vegetable products from sticking or developing freezer burn.
Chris Kelly, a company spokesperson, told FoodNavigator-USA.com that the ingredient can reduce calorie levels in final products when compared to just using oil and was increasingly being used both to protect and add flavor to frozen foods.
Taste field
Asides from offering a potential health angle, Kelly claimed that the company was also able to work with manufacturers to target specific benefits in frozen foods, particularly in the field of taste.
“Originally companies would just throw oil on precooked products like Pasta,” he said. “However, this emulsion is lower fat and can be combined with topical seasonings.”
In working to boost seasoning applications, the company said that the product was now available in a number of varieties tailored for specific food formulations.
Kelly said that examples of these seasonings included the addition of herbs into an emulsion for pasta dishes, using a little bit of soy in the ingredient to offer a more tasteful glaze for noodle products or even a butter-flavored coating.
Flavor considerations
The spokesperson said that the company was able to work with consumers to find innovations in coatings, though stressed that some factors had to be taken into account in regards to flavorings.
Kelly suggested that acids or salts present in certain seasonings, even added at a small amount, had to not negatively impact the performance of the Microseal. In certain cases, Advanced Food Systems said it could look to changing formulations to provide certain flavor roles.
With the possibility of supplying ingredients certified to all natural standards, the company said the product could offset any cost issues related to its use for consumers that wish to develop products with more high-end or quality appeal.
The ingredient is designed to be added to water in the form of a powder and then mixed with oil to make an emulsion that the group says evenly coats individual pieces of food. Kelly claims that in certain cases, the emulsion can be made up of around 70 percent water to about 20 percent oil, whether derived from olives, sesame or peanut.