NAFFS Newswire - December 30, 2008
Best Wishes for 2009; Mintel Forecasts 2009 Foodservice Trends; Vote for NAFFS Yearbook Cover; LFI's Research Focuses on Food Safety; Stevia Gets FDA Approval; Study Shows Hydrocolloids Potential for Egg-Less Cakes; and More.
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Tuesday, December 30, 2008
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BEST WISHES FOR 2009
The NAFFS staff wishes all members and their families a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. NAFFS also thanks its members for their support throughout 2008 – whether it was in the form of corporate sponsorship, placing an ad in the NAFFS Yearbook or serving on a committee. NAFFS values its members and the many ways they contribute to the success of NAFFS. MINTEL FORECASTS 2009
FOODSERVICE TRENDS
Mintel Menu Insights announced five trends it expects to influence foodservice in 2009. Its research shows nearly half of Americans say they spend their extra money dining out so restaurateurs should focus on the key elements of food and experience that resonate, according to Mintel director Maria Caranfa.
The 2009 restaurant trends include: -
Comfort food reinvented: Comfort food is what people crave when they’re feeling down, such as during times of economic recession. Restaurants will make comfort food new by increasing their use of slow-cooking.
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Cocktails that rock: Expect interesting new ingredients to add flavor and texture to cocktails. Look for ginger, cucumber, chile pepper and even beer to be paired with gin, tequila, pisco or framboise.
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Fresher food: Mintel reports having seen “fresh” labeling increase by 22 percent since early 2006 and expects 2009 menus to abound in fresh foods and artisan ingredients.
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More Mediterranean: With the popularity of Mediterranean food in the U.S., 2009 menus will begin to specifiy the specific country of origin, such as Spanish olives, Greek cheese and Middle Eastern yogurt sauce. Look for Mediterranean dishes in fast casual restaurants to appear too.
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Storytelling: To overcome negative news about the economy and obesity rates, restaurants will try to make customers happy next year. By telling stories on the menu about a food’s preparation, health benefits or origin, restaurants can help people feel good about what they’re eating.
VOTE FOR NAFFS
YEARBOOK COVER
The cover choices for the NAFFS 2009 Yearbook are available online at www.naffs.org. Members must log in to the Members-Only area to cast their vote.
Each of the entries submitted had impressive style and uniqueness. Be sure to visit the NAFFS web site and enter your choice now. All votes must be in by January 5.
LFI’S RESEARCH FOCUSES
ON FOOD SAFETY Projects evaluating the spoilage patterns of foods, the use of natural pathogen inhibitors, and the effect of processing treatments on allergen detection methods will be an important part of Leatherhead Food International’s (LFI) research program in 2009.
The projects will be more substantial and longer in duration than in previous years and will reflect current and emerging issues for the food and drink industry, food safety in particular, reported Food Quality News.
One research project will study whether partially or fully replacing sucrose with high intensity sweeteners, and/or reducing fat, may change the spoilage patterns for foods. Researchers will look at how different levels of sugar and fat and how the use of selected sugar and fat replacers affect microbial growth and survival in different food matrices.
Another 2009 study will analyze natural antimicrobials and the role quorum sensing (cell-to-cell communication between bacteria) plays in food spoilage and preservation.
The objective of another planned study is to gain some understanding of the effect of different food processing treatments on allergen recognition. It claims this research will help provide data linking changes in the allergenicity of a food with changes in monitoring its presence. STEVIA GETS
FDA APPROVAL
FDA has given the green light for Reb A, the sweetener made from the stevia leaf, to be used in food and beverages, reported Beveragedaily.com.
FDA said it has no objection to rebiana (Reb A) at 95 percent purity or above, having GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status as a general purpose sweetener for food and drink – not just as a supplement.
The two applicants, Mersiant Company and Cargill, submitted evidence to FDA to show Reb A is safe for use in the food supply and both confirmed they have received official notification of no objection from FDA.
PepsiCo and Coca Cola announced their first drinks sweetened with Reb A will be hitting U.S. store shelves shortly.
As the U.S. is a key market for natural, zero- calorie sweeteners, it is expected there will be many new product launches in 2009.
STUDY SHOWS HYDROCOLLOIDS
POTENTIAL FOR EGG-LESS CAKES
New research from India shows removing the use of eggs from baking cakes may be achievable by combining a hydrocolloid with a suitable emulsifier. The combination of hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) and sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate (SSL) produced egg-less cakes with acceptable qualities, according to findings published in Food Hydrocolloids.
Ingredients makers are reporting a growing demand from bakers for egg replacers that could help cut down on the rising costs of eggs, reported Nutraingredients.com.
The new study showed the HPMC-SSL combination produced the best results for an egg-less cake. The researchers tested a series of hydrocolloids, including gum arabic, guar gum, xanthan gum, and carrageenan, in combination with either glycerol monostearate (GMS) or SSL as the emulsifier.
Of all the different hydrocolloids tested, the researchers report that “only HPMC improved the egg-less cake making characteristics of wheat flour.” They add that HPMC improved the overall quality score of egg-less cake when GMS was used as the emulsifier, in comparison to the other hydrocolloids. On the other hand, use of SSL as the emulsifier improved the quality of cake with all the hydrocolloids, with HPMC performing the best.
Studies of the microstructure of the egg-less cake crumb showed that HPMC and SSL produced a more uniform protein matrix.
The researchers from India’s Central Food Technological Research Institute in Mysor concluded that good quality egg-less cake can be prepared using HPMC and SSL.
NAFFS CALENDAR
Be sure to save these dates:
February 13 – NAFFS Winter Meeting, The French Culinary Institute, N.Y., N.Y. March 5 – California Meeting, Hyatt, Anaheim, Cal. October 1-4 - NAFFS Convention, Longboat Key Club, Longboat Key, Fla.
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