'This is a seminal moment for food safety and flavours,' say smoke flavour innovators

A product of the collaboration between Besmoke, University of Reading researchers and flavour chemist Dr David Baines,  the technology marks a seminal moment in food safety, ridding dangerous carcinogens from the food chain, said Baines.

“My vision is that in ten years no-one will want to smoke a product unless it has been through our filter,” ​he said, speaking at Food Matters Live yesterday.

In 2013, the European Union authorised ten smoke flavouring primary products but stipulated conditions of use - including maximum permitted levels – due to the presence of toxins such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). One of these, benzopyrene, is classified as a group one carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

PureSmoke technology​

The patented PureSmoke method involves using natural zeolite which is then chemically and physically modified to create a filter. This acts like a molecular sieve trapping PAHs but allowing flavour compounds to pass through.

Baines said: “We really honed in on the nanomaterials, the fact that PAHs are molecules are larger than the flavour molecules, and [asked ourselves] ‘ Could we use this size difference to remove the PHAs through a filtration process?’”​

The researchers say an 85% reduction of the most harmful PAHs is currently possible for commercially manufactured smoked foods but Besmoke has set a target of 90-95% reduction by 2017.

Although the filtration process acts at a molecular level, the flavour molecules themselves are not modified meaning it does not qualify as nanotechnology or fall under the EU’s recently formalised novel foods act, Baines told FoodNavigator.

The flavour profile: Less ash tray, more umami ​

For Huw Griffiths, founder and CEO of Besmoke, market conditions have converged to create more demand than ever before for a safe smoke favour: food safety regulations weigh in on manufacturers from the top, consumer demand for clean-label products from below and smoke as a flavour is increasingly popular, from pulled pork to BBQ meat sauces. 

Consumer tests, as well flavour and sensory profiling conducted at the University of Reading’s Flavour Centre for Besmoke, show that the filtration process improves not only food safety but also the flavour profile.

“In taste tests there is a nasty, oily acridity at the back of the palate with unfiltered smoke. The filtered smoke gives a cleaner, pure taste. (…) You get less ash tray and more umami!,” ​said Baines.

Besmoke uses oak, hickory, apple, cherry and mesquite wood to create its smoke, with each wood giving a different flavour. Mesquite gives a sweet, nutty taste with spicy bitter notes while apple and cherry has floral, toffee notes, the company says but new flavour combinations can be created to meet customer needs.

Still in the final stages of development, the smoke will be available in early 2016 both in wet ingredients such as pastes, oils, water, and dry carrier ingredients such as salt, sugar, starches, dextrose or herbs and spices.

Besmoke smoke is also classified as a food product, falling under EU food regulation rather than flavour regulation. “It’s a food product, like smoked haddock,” ​said Baines.

The EU regulation on authorised smoke flavours, assessed and approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is available here​.