Testing texture in reformulated food

Measuring strength and stickiness in low-salt 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), adult salt intake of less than five grams per day can help to reduce blood pressure and the risk of cardiovascular disease.

In response, WHO member states have pledged to reduce the global population’s intake by a relative 30% by 2025. As such, low-salt launches, including the revolutionary change to Heinz soup recipes to provide reduced sodium options, are rife in the market. Yet, while health authorities worldwide agree too much salt can be bad for health, it does have an important role in texture – particularly in cooked meats, where it ensures firmness and “bite,” and baked goods, in which it plays a multitude of textural roles.

Testing Texture in reformulated food

Introduction

Consumers are more aware of, and knowledgeable about, their health than ever before.

This increased focus has led to people following a variety of different diets, with a wide range of dietary specifications, putting pressure on manufacturers to develop a portfolio of foods and drinks to meet individual needs. In many cases, this involves reformulating an existing product to have more of a particular ingredient, such as higher protein content, or less of another, including salt, fat and sugar.

How to measure Engineering Terms with your Texture Analyser

Standard engineering calculations have now been built into Exponent and Exponent Connect software for quick calculation of specific moduli, stresses, strains, strengths and energies which are particularly suited to materials testing applications for our range of Texture Analysers.

Each calculation is designed to be used with a very specific test setup (for example, cuboid three point bend testing) as the specific equations required for analysis depend on the sample and test geometry. A help page is supplied within the software for each quick calculation explaining the parameters that must be entered into the software by the user (such as film thickness) and a derivation and reasoning behind every equation used.

Texture is the final frontier of food science

More than ever, products must feel right

Tweaking texture could give us healthy versions of our favourite junk foods – and that's just the beginning.

According to a recent Popular Science article, food’s texture, called rheology, is so intricately tied to our food preferences that it’s becoming a bona fide area of study.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) uses computational models to study how food moves and interacts with all of the surfaces of the mouth – technology previously used to predict tsunamis – to help better understand the connection.

How to Measure Whole Fruit Volume

Quality components of fruits and vegetables are classified into the external such as size (weight, volume and dimensions), colour, shape (diameter/depth ratio), external defects etc. and the internal such as sugar content, acid content, firmness, maturity etc and internal characteristics.

Agricultural products have the characteristics of being ‘low value added’ as compared with other industrial commodities. Because of this, application of start-of-the-art technology to agricultural sectors has been relatively recently activated and various up to date techniques have now reached the point of practical implementation.

Fruit Texture: How to measure consistency of fruit preparations

The market for fruit preparations continues to grow, in large part due to their health and natural image.

The addition of fruit is immediately seen to add value, as well as sophistication, to products, from yoghurt to fresh cheese and ice cream. Consumers look for a high level of large fruit pieces, evenly suspended, with a natural texture.

Today fruit preparations are technologically advanced ingredients which can fit perfectly into the end user’s applications – sweet and viscous or low in fat, but very high in fruit content. The correct stabiliser system is also crucial for obtaining the desired texture from the fruit preparation. Modified starches, gums and gels are essential to control viscosity and texture and to guarantee the stability of the fruit preparation.

Fruit Texture: How to measure properties of fruit leather, fruit films and fruit peel

Fruit Leather

A fruit leather is made by drying a very thin layer of fruit puree or a mixture of fruit juice concentrate and other ingredients on a flat surface in an oven, desiccators or in direct sunlight, to obtain a product with a chewy texture similar to soft leather. 

Almost any type of fruit is suitable for making fruit leathers. Fruit leather is easy to eat, convenient to pack, and makes an ideal popular snack almost anywhere for a mouth-watering sugar boost. When dried, the product is usually pulled from the surface, rolled and consumed. The control of the drying temperature is very important, as very high temperatures may cause case hardening, hindering the outflow of water. Too thin a layer of purée, on the other hand, can make the product brittle and difficult to be pulled from the surface.

Fruit Texture: How to measure firm pastes and dried fruit flakes

Measuring Firm Paste Texture 

Texture is a very important property of fruit pastes since they are often used as fillings for energy bars and other products containing fruits.

Among all textural properties, hardness and stickiness are the most important, since they can dictate the possibility of application onto a product. Usually fruit pastes are applied by lightly heated rollers. If the paste is too hard or sticky it may not be properly applied.