NAFFS Newswire - August 10, 2006
NAFFS Scholarship Winners; Flavorists' Role in Developing Low-Fat Foods; Iced Tea Sales Soar As Flavors Expand; FDA's Position on GMO Labeling; and more.
CONGRATULATIONS TO NAFFS
SCHOLARSHIP AWARD WINNERS On July 12 NAFFS Executive Director Bob Bauer and East Coast Scholarship Chair Al Roth presented NAFFS’ first annual scholarship awards to three deserving students in the Rutgers University Food Science Program. Dr. Mukund Karwe, associate professor of food engineering and Dr. Jozef Kokini, chair and director of the Department of Food Science, were also on hand to congratulate the students. Photos of the presentations are available on www.naffs.org. Three $1,100 awards were presented to:
Yumin You, Ph.D. student with a 4.0 GPA
Rashmi Tiwari, Ph.D. student with a 3.9 GPA
Shalaka Narwankar, M.S. student with a 3.7 GPA. In August Patrick Imburgia, West Coast Scholarship Chair, and Piero Berlonghi, Director of Development, Wilkinson College of Letters and Sciences, Chapman Univeristy will present a $3,500 award to winning Chapman University student, Amanda Teets.
NAFFS’ scholarship support helps Rutgers and Chapman to:
-
-
Attract the brightest students
-
Support cutting-edge research
-
Provide highly qualified food scientists and nutritionists for the food industry workforce
NAFFS extends its sincere congratulations to the outstanding students and thanks the many member companies who provided financial support. FLAVOR SCIENTISTS’ ROLE VITAL
IN DEVELOPING LOW-FAT FOODS The growing demand for healthier, low-fat foods is the biggest challenge for the flavor scientist, according to a new review published in the Journal of Food Science, a publication of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). As food makers look to low-fat foods to feed bottom line growth, the role of the flavor scientist is vital.
The review reveals that taking full advantage of the low-fat food market is dependent on a better understanding of the science behind protein-flavor interactions. "The presence of proteins in flavored low-fat food products causes a great challenge for flavor scientists because many proteins are able to bind several flavor compounds tightly and influence the perceived aroma profile significantly," explained lead reviewer Janina Kuhn from the Riddet Centre, Massey University in New Zealand. "In fat-reduced or ‘light’ foods the dominant components are carbohydrates or proteins, which interact differently with aroma compounds compared with fat, and thus change the perceived flavor," said Kuhn.
The current problems arise from the different interaction between proteins and flavors and fats and flavors. Research to date has mostly focused on model systems using one protein and one aroma compound in a solution. Reviewers say research should target the expansion of understanding of the physicochemical interactions between aromas and proteins with the goal to make the product acceptable to the consumers’ sense of taste and aroma.
This has been a short-fall so far, suggest the reviewers, "because instrumental flavor-binding studies do not show if and how bound flavor is perceived during consumption." This can be done by expanding the current techniques of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR): "SPME is fast, solvent-free, and very sensitive. The main advantages of NMR techniques are speed and insight into binding mechanisms and binding topology." Researchers believe by following these fundamental approaches, significant improvements in the delivery of flavors from low-fat products can be achieved similar to those obtained from the normal high-fat product.
ICED TEA SALES SOAR
AS FLAVORS EXPAND The ready-to-drink iced tea segment has grown from $200 million to over $2 billion in annual sales in the past 15 years, according to Joe Simrany, president of the Tea Association of the U.S.A. It’s the single largest segment of the tea industry, and it explains why iced tea makes up more than 85 percent of all tea sales, he added.
Consumers are no longer settling for generic, watered-down iced tea. Instead, exotic flavors or teas with fruit or herbal infusions are being offered. And tea is even making its way into fancy blended drinks, such as smoothies and martinis, reported Organic News Today.
Some new flavors being introduced include Rishi Tea’s citron green (rooibos, tropical lemon grass and green tea with notes of fresh orange blossom, tangerine and jasmine) and Teavana’s Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls (a blend of green tea and Rooibos Tropica, a fragrant herbal blend of green and red rooibos, strawberry, peach, sunflower and cornflower petals and orange peel).
As consumers become more aware of the health benefits of tea, many are re-evaluating their diets, and some who previously drank sugar- and calorie-laden juices or soft drinks are coming over to tea, said Simrany. FDA’S POSITION ON
GMO LABELING
FDA guidance states that the agency has "no basis for concluding that bioengineered foods differ from other foods in any meaningful or uniform way, or that, as a class, foods developed by the new techniques present any different or greater safety concern than foods developed by traditional plant breeding."
FDA does not generally allow food labeling such as "GMO-free" because this would imply that the absence of bioengineering makes a product safer or superior to comparable products. FDA has indicated that statements about foods that do not contain ingredients produced from bioengineered foods could avoid or minimize such implication by using the following statement: "We do not use ingredients that were produced using biotechnology."
FDA does, however, allow manufacturers to use informative statements in labeling of foods that contain ingredients produced from bioengineered foods, e.g., "Genetically engineered" or "This product contains cornmeal that was produced using biotechnology." These statements are optional. However, if a bioengineered food is different in any way from the food it resembles (e.g, nutritional, organoleptic, or functional characteristics), then FDA requires that the label states how the food is different. The example FDA cites is high oleic acid soybean oil from soybeans developed using biotechnology to decrease the amount of saturated fat.
FDA's bottom line on GMO labeling (as on all food labeling) is that a food cannot be misbranded in any way. A food is misbranded if its labeling is false or misleading.
NAFFS WELCOMES
NEW MEMBERS NAFFS welcomes the following new members:
Diana Naturals
707 Executive Blvd.
Valley Cottage, NY 10989
Phone: (845) 268-5200
Fax: (845) 268-4626
Website: www.diana-naturals.com
Contact: Thierry Jones, General Manager
Products: Natural extracts from fruit, vegetables, seafood A.M. Todd Company
1717 Douglas Avenue
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
Phone: (269) 343-2603
Fax: (269) 343-3399
Website: www.amtodd.com
Contact: Christine Daley, East Coast Technical Sales Mgr.
Products: Full range of mint oils, flavors for sweet goods and oral care, special effects Be sure to save these dates when filling in your calendars: October 12-15 – NAFFS 89th Annual Convention, The Resort at Longboat Key Club, Longboat Key, Fla. |
