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Plant-based Yogurts: Top Facts to Know

Today, plant-based yogurts are the next hot dairy alternative trend. However, at the same time, these products encounter many formulation issues. Citri-Fi® citrus fiber's high water holding and emulsification properties help create high quality dairy-free yogurts including minimizing syneresis, thickening texture and improving food labels.

Plant-based Yogurts Bases – Old and New

Years ago, the only non-dairy yogurts found on the grocery shelves ranged from soy to rice based. However, today, this expanded into a variety of options. Other dairy-free bases moving up in rank include: almond, coconut, hemp, cashew and oat. Moreover, plant-based yogurts now reside next to their animal-based counterparts in the grocery store. As a result, this gives consumers an opportunity to try something new or use these products as a gateway to a plant-based lifestyle. In the end, plant milks will provide the segway into dairy-free yogurts. As a result, new plant milk bases such as lupin, flaxseed or sesame seed will cross over into this category.

Typical Issues in Creating Non-Dairy Yogurts

If you make your own yogurt at home, you know that dairy yogurts are relatively easy to make due to the dairy-based proteins innately present in milk. However, making dairy-free yogurts turns into a whole new adventure. The easy part involves fermenting the base but the resulting product typically produces thin and watery textures.

Some issues that arise in creating vegan type yogurts include: poor texture, syneresis or lack of a full-fat mouthfeel. As a result, product developers seek out highly functional natural ingredients to counter quality issues. At the same time, developers resort to using additives to compensate for not having dairy proteins in the food matrix. Due to this, their food label declarations evolve into less consumer friendly versions.

Common Stabilizers used in Dairy-free Yogurts

To create a thicker texture and minimize syneresis, developers typically reach for stabilizers. For instance, in vegan style yogurts, modified starches, pectin, locust bean gum, agar and other gums are added to plant-based yogurts to improve texture and stability. However, each stabilizing system presents its own limitations.

For example, modified starches are excellent in minimizing syneresis but at the same time they create pasty textures. On other hand, developers tend to add stabilizers like food gums. This adds viscosity and smooths out the pastiness but at the same time cause the texture to become snotty and unnatural. As a result, multiple stabilizing ingredients are used which makes the ingredient declaration long and cumbersome. In the end, syneresis remains to be a challenging issue in these type of applications.

Citri-Fi Citrus Fiber Benefits in Plant-based Yogurts

Citri-Fi is produced from byproduct or upcycled material of the citrus juicing process which aligns with dairy alternatives' sustainable and environmental goals. This citrus fiber is created using a patented process which opens up the fiber to provide high water holding and emulsification properties. Because of the intact native pectin, Citri-Fi provides multiple benefits in non-dairy yogurts. These superior features sets this citrus fiber apart from others in the market.

For instance, this natural ingredient between 0.01% and 0.60% contributes to smoother and thicker textures which simulates a full-fat mouthfeel. And, due to the water and oil holding power, this natural citrus fiber minimizes syneresis to create more stable products. Citri-Fi is recommended to be used with starches and/or gums to create high quality plant-based yogurts. And because Citri-Fi’s labeling options include citrus fiber, dried citrus pulp or citrus flour, this natural ingredient resonates well in the natural and clean label markets. Lastly, Citri-Fi is non-allergenic, non-GMO project certified and has no E-number.

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BLOG: How to Make Clean Label Yogurt using Citrus Fiber

Citrus fiber can be used to create clean label yogurts due to its highly functional benefits including stability, reduced syneresis, improved mouthfeel and increased thickness.

Yogurt is the one food product that exploded in popularity over the years. Consumers quickly embraced this health halo food regardless of its contents. However, today, the clean label movement is changing how consumers decide on which yogurts to purchase. And seeing that retailers' dairy sections offer wall-to-wall variety of yogurts, it is no surprise consumers are reading labels to determine the best choice. Now, not only do consumers need to be aware of added sugar, but also the number and type of ingredients used in the yogurt. They now desire simplicity and natural options.

Making Clean Label Yogurts

Fiberstar's Citri-Fi® natural citrus fiber is an ideal food ingredient when making clean label yogurts. This natural citrus fiber has high water holding and emulsification properties which provide the stability, reduced syneresis improved mouthfeel and increased thickness in yogurts. As a matter of fact, less is more. Citri-Fi is used between 0.1% to 0.5% depending on the targeted texture. And this natural citrus fiber helps reduce the number of ingredients in the clean label yogurt.

Typical methods include the following: 1) Mix together cream, milk and dry milk to form the base. 2) Slowly add Citri-Fi 100FG powder into the vortex while mixing at high speed. 3) Keep batch lightly agitated to prevent settling until pumped into a pasteurization unit. 4) Cool the mixture down to 43°C and fill into clean containers. 5) Add the culture and incubate at 43°C until pH reaches 4.4 to 4.5 (about 8 hours).

This plain style yogurt contains only seven ingredients including water. And because Citri-Fi's label options include citrus fiber, dried citrus pulp or citrus flour, this fiber resonates well in the clean label and natural markets. Moreover, this natural citrus fiber is a great complement in fruit-based yogurts.

To learn more about Citri-Fi natural citrus fiber in clean label yogurts or other clean label foods, please contact Fiberstar - techsupport@fiberstar.net.

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BLOG: Top 5 Things you Need to Know about Clean Label Yogurt

1. Yogurt manufacturers are cleaning up their label.

Yogurt, started its life with simple ingredients during a time where refrigeration and shelf stability was limited. In the past, yogurt textures depended on the natural cultures in the environment and milk type used. Today, there is a spectrum of yogurt textures littered on the retail shelves. This is partly due to the use of varying stabilizers, fruit fillings, processing techniques and dairy bases in addition to the cultures.

Right when yogurt manufacturers had dialed in their formulation and put their processes on auto-pilot, the market shifted. This shift was towards cleaner labels. It is a marvel that consumers are actually glancing away from their smartphones to read food labeling. And using their own biases, they decide what is considered natural or not in a split second. As a result, some of these stabilizers are not as natural sounding to the average consumer after all.

Yogurt may be one of those foods carrying a health halo. However, labeling is becoming king in this market. So yogurt manufacturers took note of the label reading and began to re-formulate their yogurts to serve their target consumer base.

2. Clean label is a global trend hitting all foods including yogurt.

Creating natural sounding labels is not an isolated incident. This clean label movement is prevalent in Europe, North America and Australia/New Zealand. There is also a smattering of demand in Asia, South America and Africa.

Most would assume only highly processed food manufacturers are weeping heavily over the market shift to natural labels. However, food manufacturers are realizing that it affects all foods and beverages in this market. Those manufacturers proactively benchmarking their products’ labels are the front-runners in this competitive scene.

3.  There are a variety of stabilizers used in yogurts.

Varying stabilizer systems are used in yogurts. For instance, some of the common stabilizers include the following: pectin, modified starch, dairy proteins, cellulose gel, locust bean gum, gelatin, alginates and carrageenan. Each stabilizer either alone or in combination provides improved body and texture, increased firmness, minimal separation or syneresis and suspension of particulates like fruit.

4.  There are clean label stabilizers available in the market.

 Since there is no regulated definition for natural or clean label, formulators scramble to understand which ingredients are safe havens. No matter which ingredient comes into question, there is some sort of bias for or against it. Yogurt manufacturers need to understand their target consumer’s label sensitivities. For instance, one stabilizer can be considered natural to one consumer base but not to another depending on the brand.

This is not a testimony saying one stabilizer trumps the other. This blurb is to point out that manufacturers should be aware there is no one size fits all when it comes to selecting clean label stabilizers for yogurts. So suppliers are burning the midnight oil in order to launch new options into the marketplace.

5.  Citri-Fi® citrus fiber in clean label yogurt is an ideal fit.

For those still scratching their heads over this whole ordeal, there is one natural ingredient they should consider – citrus fiber. Although this is not one of the usual suspects when formulating yogurt, there is one feature that rules – clean label. Within the U.S., the USDA approved the following labeling for dairy products – dried citrus pulp or citrus flour.

Ok,  so it is clean label. So why choose citrus fiber in yogurt?

There are several citrus fibers in the marketplace, however, they are not all the same. Citrus fiber’s composition and structure tell the real story behind its stellar functionality. For instance, Citri-Fi natural citrus fiber is created from byproduct of the juicing processing. The patented physical process opens up the fiber to provide high water holding and emulsification properties. Yes! This can provide multiple functionalities in yogurts.

Citrus Fiber Incorporation and Usage

Citri-Fi, a clean label stabilizer, holds onto the water and fat in the system and stabilizes it over time. As a result, this natural ingredient improves the thickness and texture. Less is more when using this natural citrus fiber in yogurt. The recommended usage level is between 0.1% to 0.6%. However, higher usage levels create thicker and creamier yogurts. Citri-Fi comes in a few particle sizes which also helps target specific yogurt textures.

The incorporation process into clean label yogurt is simple. First the cream, milk or any other dairy base are mixed together. This clean label stabilizer powder is slowly added into a vortex while mixing at high speed. The batch is kept lightly agitated to prevent settling until pumped into a pasteurization unit. Once through, the mixture cools down to 43°C and is filled into clean containers. The culture is added and then the containers are incubated at 43°F until a pH of 4.4 to 4.5 is reached. That is about eight hours.

Citri-Fi clean label stabilizer is non-GMO, allergen-free and gluten-free. It has no E-number which is key in certain markets. This natural ingredient is plant-based and vegan. So there is opportunity to use this natural ingredient in dairy-free systems to improve stability, thickness and texture.

 

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