Replacing partially hydrogenated oils (phos) with customized oil blends may add to formulation costs. Ways to keep costs down, such as by using smaller but equally effective doses, may help. Tests from Corbion show that, when using non-pho emulsifiers with proprietary oil blends, doses of 80% may work in bread.

“A lot of this blending incorporates these high-stability oils, and as we all know the high-stability oils are not as cheap as phos,” said Jim Doucet, manager of emulsifier technology for Corbion. “There are some cost increases and considerations for that, but, yes, if you can compensate by reducing the dosage, you can offset that.”

He gave a presentation on non-pho emulsifiers March 1 at the American Society of Baking’s BakingTech 2016 in Chicago.

Partial hydration was cost-effective, flexible and allowed companies “to dial in to specific physical and chemical properties in fats and oils, and yes, even emulsifiers,” Mr. Doucet said.

However, last June the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled phos, which are the primary dietary source of industrially produced trans fatty acids, are no longer Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) for use in human food. Companies have until June 2018 to remove phos from their products.

Many considerations go into choosing how to take out phos, Mr. Doucet said.

“And one of the most important considerations is can you commercialize the product?” Mr. Doucet said. “Can you produce it successfully in a commercial sense?”

Corbion worked for two years to develop commercialized versions of non-pho emulsifiers, which launched last year under the Ensemble line. Pan bread testing evaluated such areas as dough handling properties, crumb, softness and sensory aspects. Interesting results came in extended shelf life white bread with no-time dough. The bread contained hydrated monoglycerides with proprietary oil blends.

“One of the things we noticed during testing was that when we reduced the level by roughly 20%, we saw improvement in performance, really across the board,” Mr. Doucet said.

In extended shelf life wheat bread with no-time dough, the same type of results came with an 80% dose.

“I feel very comfortable in sharing this with you,” he said. “We’ve just done it so much that what we’re seeing is not an artifact. We’re actually seeing this performance day in and day out, very, very consistent. So I think it’s real.”

He said Corbion has concluded, “For reasons not fully understood, we’re seeing that the monoglycerides reformulated by proprietary blending are performing as good or better in really all cases that we looked at when we reduced the dosage by 20%.”

Mr. Doucet gave ideas about why the smaller doses might be working. The proprietary oil blends contain more unsaturated fatty acids and less saturated fatty acids.

“They have a totally different behavior,” he said.

Previously ingredients did not start reacting until the proofing stage or in the oven. The reactions possibly could be starting earlier.

“So I think it’s possible to say there is some interaction taking place at the bowl because we‘ve changed the nature of these products,” he said.

This article originally appeared in Food Business News