Palsgaard emulsifiers target low cost mayo production
designed to replace egg yolk and milk proteins in mayonnaise.
The company hopes that the new range will satisfy both consumer demand for high quality and the need for manufacturers to cut costs.
Medium and low-fat mayonnaises usually require reduced oil content and increased starch content along with an emulsifier such as dairy protein or egg yolk. But Palsgaard's new system is designed to remove the need for animal products and avoid many of processing concerns and price volatility associated with eggs.
In addition to the replacement of more expensive ingredients therefore, Plasgaard said that the ingredients allow finished products to be labelled as vegetable mayonnaises.
The new compounds from Palsgaard contain both emulsifiers and stabilisers. The company claimed that they can be used for mayonnaise products with between 20 and 70 per cent fat content.
Systems for both warm and cold process are available. The compounds contain emulsifying starch E1450, an emulsifying agent that can be used to substitute egg yolk or milk protein, modified starch E1442 that gives stability and mouthfeel and gums E412 and E415, viscosity and stability-giving agents.
"These new products are giving a strong emulsion with a high stability," said the company in a statement. "It means that the final mayonnaise has several benefits compared with ordinary mayonnaise."
These include very high water binding capacity of the mayonnaise, which makes it very suitable for salad mayonnaises, where fillings might release water during storage, and the possibility of extending the shelf life of the product.
Recent figures from Frost & Sullivan reveal emulsifiers, along with fat replacers, are leading growth in the food additive industry: since 2001 the market value of emulsifiers rose by some 5.6 per cent. Emulsifiers are used by food makers to reduce the surface tension between two immiscible phases at their interface - such as two liquids, a liquid and a gas, or a liquid and a solid - allowing them to mix.
Palsgaard has been looking to reinforce its position in the specialist emulsifiers and stabilisers market for a number of months. It committed itself last year to increasing its distilled monoglycerides production by 14,300 tons a year, arguing that this €7 million investment would help it to meet increasing demand.
The expansion will enable Palsgaard to produce more than 30,000 tons per year, and will be completed by autumn 2006.
