Tate & Lyle plug gap in the market with low-moisture starches

Clotilde Feuillade, texturants product manager at the speciality food ingredients producer, said that the new starch products, Merizet 116 and 118, offer the lowest moisture content of native starches on the market.

“While standard native starch grades have a moisture content of somewhere between 10% and 14%, Merizet 116 and 118, which undergo an additional drying step, really aid the formulation of products such as dry mixes, dehydrated soups and frozen dough due to their low moisture content of 4-6% and 6-8% respectively,”​ she said.

These new starches play a considerable role in preventing moisture pick-up during storage, and are particularly suited to tropical markets where humidity is a challenge both in terms of production and shelf life but equally applicable to the European market, where producers want to reduced moisture content in these kind of products as much as possible, explained Feuillade.

Furthermore, Merizet 116 and 118 do not change the viscosity profile and the SGP (Setting Gelling Point) compared to a standard native starch, she explained.

Production challenges ​

Speaking to FoodNavigator.com, Feuillade said that in recent years, there has been a limited supply of extra dry starches due to challenges arising out of their production such as explosions on bagging lines experienced by starch providers.

“As a result, manufacturers have been opting to dry native starches themselves to achieve the required functionality for their dry mixes, a process that is extremely expensive. ​

We realised this was a major financial headache for the food industry and Merizet 116 and 118 were developed to directly address this problem,”​ added the Tate & Lyle texturants product manager.

She said that Tate & Lyle have set up a dedicated bagging line for the production of their extra dry starches that has a reinforced feeding stage and appropriate paper bags with an additional layer aimed at removing any risk associated with their production.

Stability ​

The new starches give a guaranteed shelf life of one year in terms of moisture stability and microbiology parameters. “We expect to be able to ensure a two-year shelf life within a six month timeframe, with Tate & Lyle technicians closing reviewing the starches’ stability in terms of moisture and microbiology over this period,”​ said Feuillade.

The starches, she added, are produced in the ingredient supplier’s Netherlands facility from non-GMO maize, with this free-from status reassuring European producers concerned with ensuring ingredients used in their products are GMO free.

The Dutch modified starch production plant also produces Merizet 150 and 158 - moulding starches for confectionery applications.