Dairy Ingredients for Food Processing

357

Chapter 14

Functional Ingredients from Dairy Fermentations

Ebenezer R. Vedamuthu

Introduction

Present - day consumers are health - conscious
and well - informed about the link between
food and health. This has led to regulations
requiring that packaged foods carry nutrient
and ingredient labeling. In nutrient labeling,
the composition and relative amounts of indi-
vidual nutritive components must be listed
for an average serving of the food. In ingredi-
ent labeling, all of the ingredients contained
in the food must be declared. Modern food
marketing involves shipment of food across
state lines and national boundaries. Often, the
time lapse between production and consump-
tion of packaged food is fairly long, which
has spawned various processing and preser-
vative and protective technologies. These
technologies aim to deliver processed food
that retains most if not all of the attributes
with regard to body, texture, and fl avor of the
food in its fresh form. An additional concern
is ensuring the safety and wholesomeness of
the food. These demands have called for
innovative technologies in processing, pres-
ervation and protection.
In the modern competitive marketplace,
the food industry strives to introduce novel
forms, textures, and fl avors (or a combination
of fl avors) in packaged foods to meet con-
sumer demands and a desire for variety in
foods. These demands pose challenges in

maintaining to the best extent possible the

physico - chemical properties of the original

foods and ensuring their safety as formulated

foods. To meet these requirements, the indus-

try uses chemical stabilizers, emulsifi ers,

antioxidants, sweeteners, fl avoring ingredi-

ents, and other chemical compounds to pre-

serve freshness and protect the food from

chemical and microbial deterioration as well

as the development of pathogenic agents and

their toxins. All these ingredients must be

declared on the label.

In the European Union, many of these

chemical ingredients and other additives

have been assigned EU numbers, which also

must be listed. Consumers fi nd it daunting to

comprehend the purpose and need for these

additives. Furthermore, the public is bom-

barded with a cacophony of voices that raise

their anxiety about the health risks of con-

suming the long and bewildering list of unfa-

miliar chemicals found on the food labels.

Frye and Kilara (2008) have succinctly sum-

marized the regulations for product standards

and labeling for dairy products. Further

information pertaining to regulations and

labeling guidelines are summarized by Patel

et al. (2008).

To assuage consumer anxiety and win their

confi dence, the industry strives to develop

technologies to allow clean labels. To achieve

this, chemical additives are avoided to the

extent possible. To replace the chemicals,

suitable natural or biologically derived, food -

grade alternatives are employed. Biopreser-

vatives fi ll this niche, aiding in protecting and

Dairy Ingredients for Food Processing edited by
Ramesh C. Chandan and Arun Kilara
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.