Latest Texture Analysis in Research: Acoustics

There’s an entire industry dedicated to making foods crispy. Ever wondered why we are so drawn to the snap of a potato chip or the crackle of fried chicken – it’s down to biology, psychology and an incredible amount of engineering.

Crispness is a critical attribute of quality for crispy products, which can be evaluated through both instrumental and sensory analysis.  Here is a round-up of the type of research that is going on around the world into this amazing textural feature.

Designing the best potato chip

Researchers have developed a method to analyse the physical characteristics of a potato chip at four stages of eating — from the first bite to the final swallow — to help formulate a tastier low-fat snack. The results of the research have been reported in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.  

While munching on low-fat potato chips might reduce the guilt compared with full-fat versions, many people don’t find the texture as appealing. Cutting fat in potato chips usually involves reducing the vegetable oil content but it’s the oil that helps give the product its characteristic crunch, taste and mouthfeel. 

Food On the Go

According to Kantar Worldpanel, the food-to-go market as a whole rose to be worth £25bn in the year preceding September 2018, and food manufacturers have kept up with rising demand with a stream of innovation that fits into busy, on-the-go schedules. Products are easy to carry around and made simple to eat in single servings, often with forks, spoons or chopsticks included in the packaging. This trend has arrived at the same time as an eco-friendlier generation, with increased interest in plant-based food and dislike of single-use plastics, so products with a high meat content and traditional plastic containers will likely be snubbed in the supermarket. 

Ensuring Snack and Nutrition Bar quality

Snacking is not a modern concept. As humans, we have been snacking for our whole existence.

The Stone Age hunter will have eaten berries while waiting for his next rabbit, Native Americans used to throw their ears of corn on a fire to produce early popcorn, and the first pretzels are said to have been made by a 6th century Italian monk. 

However, along with this snacking behaviour, we also started to eat larger, regular meals a few thousand years ago once we started breeding livestock. 



Checking Texture of Savoury Snacks when fat and salt are reduced

In terms of health and nutrition, one of the greatest successes for the UK and US industries over the last decade has undoubtedly been the changes to the vegetable oils which are used to fry savoury snacks, and which are an integral part of the finished product. 

The industry has worked closely with oilseed developers and suppliers, moving away from the traditional use of palm oil and palm olein fractions as the primary part of vegetable oil blends, and moved towards alternative oils which are lower in saturated fat such as sunflower and rapeseed oils.

Using Texture Analysis in the Development of Healthy Snacks for Kids

With the problem of childhood obesity capturing headlines as never before, many parents are looking critically at their children’s diets, giving greater attention to factors such as fat and sugar content when choosing breakfast options, packing lunches and planning dinners. 

But while many parents try to help their kids choose healthier between-meal snacks, they tend to do so with a focus on minimising the negative (fat and sugars), but overlook the opportunity to increase the positive (protein, fibre and other nutrients).

The chief concern is that most snack foods designed to appeal to children tend to deliver plenty of carbohydrates, fats and sugar, but fall short on delivery of vitamins, minerals and fibre. At best, this is a missed opportunity in the area of child nutrition.

Snack Product Texture Measurement and Analysis

Breakfast cereals and snack foods such as tortilla chips, potato crisps, corn puffs and prawn crackers have many features in common, both in their manufacturing processes and in their product characteristics. 

Many of these products are made from similar types of raw materials and tend to be processed as doughs at much higher temperatures than those used for conventional baked products.

Although the final products in the breakfast cereal and snack food markets are distinctly different in their appearance, they all tend to have low residual moisture contents and similar brittle crispy textures.

Snack Product Texture Measurement and Analysis

Breakfast cereals and snack foods such as tortilla chips, potato crisps, corn puffs and prawn crackers have many features in common, both in their manufacturing processes and in their product characteristics. 

Many of these products are made from similar types of raw materials and tend to be processed as doughs at much higher temperatures than those used for conventional baked products.

Although the final products in the breakfast cereal and snack food markets are distinctly different in their appearance, they all tend to have low residual moisture contents and similar brittle crispy textures.

Texture Analysis in action: the Pizza Tensile Rig

The PIZZA TENSILE RIG (A/PT) is comprised of two four-pronged components. 

The upper component fits directly to the loadcell and the lower to the base of the texture analyser. The rectangular shaped test sample is positioned on the attachments using the prongs. 

The tensile force and extension to break the sample is measured and used as an indication of pizza toughness.