According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 38 people in 20 states have been infected with Salmonella Bredeney. Almost 30% of the people have been admitted to hospital but no deaths have been reported.
Sunland, Inc. of Portales, New Mexico has an ongoing recall on a number of products, including raw and roasted shelled and in-shell peanuts.
QualiTech is offering a “natural, allergen-free and cost-effective” solution for value-added products that utilize peanut and peanut based ingredients.
Cost effective
The ingredient is less expensive than de-fatted peanut flour, a spokesperson for the company told FoodNavigator-USA.
“The market for corn is much less volatile than the peanut market keeping the costs more stable over time. The added allergen clean-up costs associated with peanut products are not required.”
The ingredient contains less fat than peanut flour and peanut butter, they added, therefore a less expensive fat can be added back to the ingredient instead of using expensive peanut oil.
“The handling of Flav-R-Grain PBE is more user- and industry-friendly then peanut butter, and the shelf life is one year.”
Applications
Rudy Roesken, GM of the Food Ingredients division, said that the Flav-R-Grain ingredient can be used for “breads, cookies, bars, cereals, baked goods and more or it can be blended with peanut flour to extend usage and give a cost savings”.
The ingredient is stabilized corn germ adds a nutty, whole-grain flavor to products, said QualiTech. It has natural dietary fiber in the product and can emulate fried/toasted applications, the company added.
“In the nut industry, protein and fiber are key nutrients typically highlighted in marketing literature,” said Roesken. “By using our PBE product a food developer may decrease the total fat and increase dietary fiber in their formulations making for a healthier product.”
The ingredient can be labeled for natural and labeled as “toasted corn germ”, said the company.