Tomato soup and grilled cheese. Broccoli cheddar soup. Chicken tortilla soup. Sink back in your chair and let your mouth water. Granted this is a tiny selection of what the world has to offer when it comes to natural soup. Every country around the globe has at least one soup often a staple of their land.

A simple food which uses leftovers, catch of the day or what is on hand turns into a diverse array of styles, flavors and textures. As a result, the spectrum is wide. Clear broths are on one side while hearty stews are on the other of the scale. Rich and creamy types of natural soups like bisques and chowders which typically contain higher fat content recently moved up the popularity ladder.

Scaling Up Soup

Creating these higher fat natural soups from scratch at home is straight forward. However, scaling this up to a commercial level with handling, storage and reconstitution is a whole new challenge. Some manufacturers use heat vats and ship the natural soup frozen to restaurants with no need to retort. These type of natural soups tend to separate out during the freeze/thaw and reheating process. And depending on the restaurant, some sit in kettles for hours on end which sometimes breaks the emulsion and creates stratified layers of water and fat.

There are natural emulsifiers on the market that can play a key role in these luxurious soups to help them withstand the rigors of commercial and sales distribution. For instance, Citri-Fi®, a clean label natural citrus fiber, provides high water holding and a pleasant mouthfeel that provides body. Due to its naturally occurring lipophilic components, internal surface area and high content of native pectin, this natural citrus fiber stabilizes emulsified systems to prevent fat separation. Citri-Fi is typically used between 0.3% and 1.0%. This natural stabilizer can be added to dry ingredients like salt and seasonings before being incorporated.

Citri-Fi is plant-based, non-allergenic and is Non-GMO Project certified. This natural emulsifier labeling options include citrus fiber, dried citrus pulp or citrus flour which resonate well in the clean label and natural food markets.

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