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As you work on developing your product, one of the keys to success is in knowing the various basic ingredients that are added to foods, as well as how they’re used.

Six groups of ingredients are commonly found in food products:

• sweeteners;

• starches;

• fats and oils;

• flavours;

• spices; and

• food additives.

Once you have read through this section, you should be able to answer the following questions about the food ingredients covered:

• What forms does it come in?

• When would I use it?

Note that for information about sources for any food ingredients, you can contact the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs at 1-888-466-2372.

SWEETENERS

The taste sensation of sweetness is one of the most highly regarded attributes of food substances. To most people, sweetness comes from sucrose, the white granular sweetener sold in the supermarket.

To the food processor, however, sweetness can come from a number of different carbohydrate sources.

Commercially Available Sugar Products

You can choose from a wide variety of sugar products.

Sugar Beet/Cane Products

Products in this category include the following:

• Dry granulated sugar: This type of sugar is commonly referred to as table sugar or sucrose. Sucrose is a disaccharide. It is composed of one molecule of glucose and one molecule of fructose.

Sucrose is processed in a variety of granulations to fulfil different processing requirements.

For example, fine granulated sugar is used for direct consumption, whereas powdered sugar may be used for confections and baking.

Dry granulated sugar is packaged in large, multilayer paper bags. A moisture barrier layer must be present to slow the penetration of moisture and the release of water that causes clumping.

The clumping of dry sugar is a common problem. To prevent it, bags of sugar should be stored in dry areas. Generally, if the relative humidity of the air is less than 70 percent, little or no clumping will occur. You can also minimize clumping by rolling the bags every few days to prevent a hard mass from forming.

As a rule of thumb, as the size of granulation decreases, there is an increase in tendency for clumping because of the larger crystal surface area. In products such as icing and powdered sugars, about three percent cornstarch is added. The starch absorbs the moisture, which prevents the sugar from clumping.

• Liquid sugar/sucrose: Liquid sugar is simply the melted form of refined granular sugar. The typical percentage of sucrose in liquid sugar is 66 to 68 percent, and the remaining 34 to 32 percent is water.

• Invert liquid sugar: Invert sugar is made from sucrose by splitting the sucrose into its component parts, glucose and fructose. (Glucose is also referred to as “dextrose.” Fructose is also referred to as “levulose.”). Invert sugar is a liquid mixture of these component sugars.

An equal ratio of glucose to fructose is always obtained during this process.

Varying levels of invert sugar are available to food processors, ranging from 10 percent to 90 percent. As invert sugar has a higher sweetness level than sucrose, it is often more economical to use.

• Molasses: Molasses is the “concentrated juice extracted from sugar-bearing plants, such as the viscous liquid produced in the refining of sugar.” (Pancoast and Junk, 1980) Fancy is the term given to the highest grade of molasses, and blackstrap molasses is the final syrup obtained in the refining process.

• Brown/yellow or golden sugar: The trade usually refers to brown sugars as soft sugars because they are typically used for their characteristic flavour. Brown sugar is a fine-grain sugar covered with a very thin layer of syrup, usually cane molasses. The grades are based on the degree of brown colour.

The clumping of brown sugar is very problematic if it isn’t stored properly. In low relative humidity conditions, loss of moisture causes the layer of syrup to become sticky. However, if it’s stored in high relative humidity, the syrup is permitted to regain moisture. Ideally, brown sugars should be stored at a relative humidity of between 60 percent and 70 percent.

Corn Products

Corn sugars are classified as any carbohydrate obtained by the partial or complete breakdown of cornstarch. All corn sugars are processed to have a dextrose equivalent of greater than 20.

Maltodextrins are also obtained from the breakdown of cornstarch. However, they possess dextrose equivalents of less than 20.

It is important to define the widely used term “dextrose equivalent” (DE). This is the percent of reducing sugars in the syrup, calculated as dextrose (that is, glucose) on a dry weight basis. The simple way to remember this is that DE indicates what percentage of syrup is glucose.

• Corn syrup: Corn syrup is produced from the starch of corn by a series of chemical reactions called hydrolysis. Corn syrup is a very viscous liquid that gains much of its sweetness from its high glucose content.

Corn syrup is the only type of corn sugar sold at the retail level.

• Glucose (dextrose): Glucose is the product of the complete breakdown of starch.

It is available to food processors in a liquid solution form or a crystalline sugar form.

In Canada and the United States, glucose syrup made from corn is referred to as corn syrup. This could create some confusion. Therefore, it’s important that you request the proper ingredient from suppliers.

• Corn syrup solids (CSS): These are the dried version of corn syrup, and may also be referred to as dried glucose solids. CSS are classified according to particle size, carbohydrate distribution and dextrose equivalent.

• High fructose corn syrup (HFCS): This type of syrup is similar to invert sugar, but it doesn’t have an equal ratio of glucose to fructose. HFCSs are classified according to their glucose-fructose ratio.

The trend in industry is to increase the amount of fructose with a corresponding decrease of glucose. This causes a syrup with a higher sweetness level, so that less syrup is required.

However, this is often counterbalanced by the higher cost of processing.

In Canada, HFCS is called “glucose-fructose” in the ingredient statement. The proportion of glucose to fructose affects the terminology.

• Fructose: Fructose has the highest sweetness level of any commercial sugar. Therefore, only a small amount is usually required in food. It is available as a solution or a crystalline powder.

• Maltodextrin: Maltodextrins in a strict sense shouldn’t be considered sweeteners, because they possess little sweetness. However, they are often used to control sweetness.

As mentioned earlier, maltodextrins are obtained from starch that has been processed to have a DE of less than 20. They are sold as a dry white powder that can be reconstituted in water. They are classified by their DE value and their bulk densities. Because they possess a large volume in comparison to their weight, they are often used as fillers.

Honey

Food processors generally use two types of honey: white and golden.

Golden honey imparts more flavour and, as the name implies, is a golden yellow colour.

White honey is less sweet and possesses little colour.

Golden honey is less expensive than white honey.

Artificial Sweeteners

Two choices of artificial sweeteners are available:

• Aspartame: This artificial sweetener, with the brand name Nutrasweet^®, was approved by Health Canada in 1981. It is a dipeptide, composed of two amino acids, that possesses a sweetness value 160 to 200 times that of sugar.

Because aspartame isn’t heat stable, its applications are limited. A recent development, however—encapsulated aspartame—does have applications now in baking.

One remaining difficulty with aspartame is that it can’t be consumed by people with phenylketonuria, a genetic condition where the amino acid phenylalanine can’t be broken down by the body.

• Sucralose: This non-nutritive artificial sweetener, more commonly known as Splenda^®, was approved by Health Canada in 1991. Sucralose is a synthetic form of sucrose that contributes no calories and is 600 times as sweet as sugar.

Since sucralose is more stable at high temperatures, it can be used in bakery and cooked product applications.

Functions of Sugars

Sugars have the following functions:

• Sweetness: Not all sugars impart the same level of sweetness. When establishing the sweetness level of your food product, you need to consider the relative sweetness of the sugar. A value of 100 has been arbitrarily assigned to sucrose, which is used as the benchmark. All other sugars are given a value depending on their relative sweetness to sucrose. For example, fructose has been assigned a value of 170, which means fructose is 1.7 times as sweet as sucrose.

The Relative Sweetness chart below lists the sweetness values of some of the commercial sugars available. Use such a system only as a guideline. Note that sugars shouldn’t be substituted directly based on values given, without experimentation.

Relative Sweetness

Adapted from: Pancoast and Junk (1980)

Sweetener Relative Sweetness To Sucrose

HFCS 42% fructose 100

HFCS 55% fructose 100-110

42DE corn syrup 40-45

54 DE corn syrup 50-55

Molasses 75

Fructose 150-170

Lactose 40

Glucose (dextrose) 70-80

Honey 97

Sucrose 100

• Humectancy: This is the ability of an ingredient to resist a change in moisture content.

With respect to sugars, humectancy is related to the water activity of sugar solutions.

Thus, adding some sugars to a food product will reduce water activity.

• Preservation: The growth of some microorganisms is inhibited by high sugar concentration.

• Fermentable carbohydrate: Some sugars are used by yeast to produce either carbon dioxide or alcohol. This is beneficial in products such as dough and wine.

• Browning: Reducing sugars (glucose and fructose) take part in a browning reaction with amino acids in the absence of water. This reaction is known as “maillard browning.” The reaction forms pigments that exhibit a brown colour.

Maillard browning is evident in toast, baked goods and certain cooked meat products.

• Bulking agent: Some sugars that possess a low sweetness level can be used to add volume to a food product without overpowering the flavour of the product. For example, low-calorie table sweeteners made from artificial sweeteners use maltodextrins as a filler.

• Hygroscopicity: Some dry sugars readily absorb moisture. This is a negative property, because it causes clumping. Some sugars, however, have a very low capacity to absorb moisture. These sugars are used in products where moisture absorption is undesirable.

FATS AND OILS

The difference between a fat and an oil is its state at room temperature. That is, a fat is solid at room temperature, whereas an oil is liquid.

Today, consumer diet and health concerns have forced food processors to choose very carefully the fats and oils they include in their food products. Fat provides twice as many calories per gram as either carbohydrate or protein, and contributes to health problems if consumed in excess.

Unfortunately, certain foods can’t retain characteristic properties without fat. Knowledge of the properties of fats and oils will help you reduce the level of fat, hopefully without sacrificing quality.

Functions of Fats and Oils

Fats and oils have four functions:

• Palatability: contributes characteristic flavours and aromas, and aids in colour development.

• Satiety: makes you feel full.

• Texture: contributes to tenderness and flakiness, mouth-feel.

• Cooking medium: can be heated above the temperature of boiling water, resulting in an alternative method of food preparation.

Types of Oil

Most oils purchased by food processors and consumers alike have been refined. That is, they have been previously processed to remove odour, colour and other impurities.

Adding hydrogen to the double bonds of fatty acids makes them saturated. This changes the properties of oils, because increasing the level of saturation increases an oil’s melting point. As a result, the oil becomes more stable and more solid at room temperature. That is, it is converted to a solid fat. This process is used in manufacturing margarine and shortening.

Common Food Oils

Some of the common oils available to food processors include:

• Soybean oil: This is a low-cost, highly unsaturated vegetable oil. It is very unstable even after typical refining processes. That’s why it must be hydrogenated slightly for use in salad dressings and mayonnaise.

Partially hydrogenated soybean oil is the most abundant oil used in shortenings and margarines. It isn’t used for frying because of its instability.

• Cottonseed oil: With the advent of the more cheaply produced canola and soybean oils, cottonseed oil has lost its popularity. Because cottonseed oil has many of the same properties as soybean oil, its extra cost isn’t warranted in certain applications.

However, unlike soybean oil, cottonseed oil can be used in frying applications. During frying, it is often combined with other oils, because its characteristic nutty notes are used to mask the off-notes of other oils.

• Canola oil: Today, canola oil is the most commonly used oil by food processors and households alike. It is a result of a Canadian 20-year breeding program of rapeseed.

Canola oil is very similar to soybean oil with respect to its uses in salad dressings, shortenings and margarines, and cooking applications.

Canola oil contains moderate levels of polyunsaturated fatty acid, linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid, and is one of the lowest in saturated fats available commercially.

• Corn oil: The production of corn oil is limited by the demand for cornstarch products.

It is primarily used in the unhydrogenated liquid form and sold to consumers. With the promotion of polyunsaturated oils, it has been included in margarines, although it has no functional advantages over soybean oil.

• Sunflower oil: The characteristic flavour of sunflower oil, together with its good stability, makes it a very popular oil throughout the world. It is used in a wide variety of applications and is sold for a moderate cost.

• Safflower oil: This oil gained its popularity with the increase in demand for polyunsaturated fats. Safflower oil is typically used in specialty mayonnaise and salad dressings, where a polyunsaturated claim is very important.

The high level of unsaturation causes safflower oil to be very unstable in frying conditions, so it is rarely used in households.

• Peanut oil: Although peanut oil is more costly than other frying oils, it is often used among snack and fast-food processors because of the roasted-peanut notes it gives to food

products. That’s why frying is one of peanut oil’s primary food applications.

• Olive oil: Olive oil originated from Mediterranean countries, although it is also grown now in California. In North America, olive oil is considered a gourmet item because it is highly flavoured and more expensive than other oils. Olive oil is typically used for dressings and frying.

“Virgin” olive oil is simply the oil pressed from the olive. It is sold in three grades: “extra,”

“fine” and “ordinary,” depending on the free fatty acid content of each. “Pure” olive oil is either a blend of virgin and refined oils or simply refined olive oil. “Blended” olive oil is a blend of virgin olive oil and a second-grade oil, and “industrial” olive oil has been stripped and deodorized to be a bland oil.

• Coconut oil: This oil is liquid at room temperature. However, just below room temperature it becomes solid. This happens because coconut oil is very high in saturated fats. This property makes it ideal for snack foods and confections.

Coconut oil is an excellent frying oil for nuts and snack foods that require a long shelf life because of its stability. Because it doesn’t feel greasy in the mouth, it is also used for coatings and lubricants in confectionery products.

Coconut oil’s limitation is that it easily forms a soapy flavour because of rancidity.

Due to consumer demands for unsaturated fats, coconut oil is being omitted in many foods by processors.

• Palm kernel oil: This oil is highly saturated and, as a result, is even more solid than coconut oil at room temperature. Like coconut oil, it is often used in confections. Palm kernel oil is also being phased out of food products due to consumer demand for healthier fats in food.

• Fish oils: These are mainly used by manufacturers of shortening and margarine in Canada and Europe. Because of their nutritional profile, there has been a renewed interest in fish oils. They are highly polyunsaturated, and they possess omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are believed to help reduce heart disease.

Unfortunately, fish oils must be slightly or partially hydrogenated (increasing the amount of saturates), otherwise they emit strong fishy odours.

Storing Oils

Store oils in a dark place to avoid oxidative rancidity. If they are kept at room temperature, they may have a shelf life of several weeks before they become rancid. If you store them at refrigerator temperatures, they will have a longer shelf life, but will become solid. Generally, the same is true for hydrogenated oils.

It’s also important that lids are fastened securely to prevent air from entering, which also promotes oxidative rancidity.

Types of Fat

You also have several fats from which to choose.

Your Fat Choices

Fats available to food processors include:

• Cocoa butter: This is a major commercial vegetable butter. It is unique because it melts sharply at 37°C, which is body temperature. It is cocoa butter that gives the silky mouth-feel to chocolate. Imitation chocolates that use other vegetable oils can’t mimic the way chocolate with cocoa butter melts in the mouth. Because of this unique property, cocoa butter is very expensive.

• Lard and tallow: Lard and tallow are both meat fats prepared by rendering pork and beef, respectively. Rendering involves heating solid animal fat to a liquid for fat removal. Both are 100 percent fat, consisting mainly of saturated fatty acids. They are solid at room

temperature.

• Shortening: Shortening, other than butter or lard, is defined by the Food and Drug Act and Regulations as a semi-solid food prepared from fats, oils or a combination of fats and oils.

Shortening may be processed by hydrogenation and may contain any of a wide range of ingredients, including stearyl monoglyceridyl, certain preservatives and others. Emulsifiers, for instance, may be added to shortenings used for bakery applications to promote small, evenly distributed air pockets and retard staling.

You can buy shortening in the solid, fluid or powdered form depending on the application.

• Butter: Butter is made from milk fat (that is, cream). It contains about 83 percent fat and 16 percent water. Salt may also be added for flavour and preservation. Although butter is an expensive form of solid fat, it is often used because of its pleasing colour and flavour. Other butter fat products include powdered butter, whipped butter and butter oil.

• Margarine: Margarine is made from either a single source of vegetable oil or a blend of vegetable oils. It may be hydrogenated to become a spreadable solid fat at room temperature.

Margarine differs from shortening in that it contains only 80 percent oil. The remaining 20 percent is water and possibly colour, flavour, vitamins A and D, and emulsifying agents.

Storing Fats

Fats that are used quite regularly can be kept at room temperature for ease of use. Generally,

Fats that are used quite regularly can be kept at room temperature for ease of use. Generally,

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