On 24 April 2024 the European Union radically altered its regulations on smoked flavourings. “This decision has turned the food industry on its head, with major consequences for the products we all love”, says Yaron Vanwildemeersch of Food Ingredients Technologies.

“Manufacturers have between two and five years – depending on the product – to alter their recipe, but are ‘extremely disappointed’.” Food Ingredients Technologies have more news to tell at Intrafood.

Yaron Vanwildemeersch, Technical Advisor at Food Ingredients Technologies, has observed bottlenecks in various sectors of the food industry. “Many companies are not up to date on EU legislation. In five years no more smoked or smoke flavoured products may be processed into the end product. Other bottlenecks are that companies have no or few alternatives and are badly supported in the transition. And the flavour of products is not always easy to create using an alternative product. Food companies are not always aware of the importance of smoke flavourings.

Alternatives

“We currently use a complete range of alternative smoked flavours in various forms: powder, liquid, water or oil soluble, which comply with the new standards and will continue to do so for at least the next five years”, continues Vanwildemeersch. “We also offer alternative products with the label ‘nature aroma’ which comply with the specific requirements for the declaration of ingredients. By choosing our solutions today, food companies can guarantee the sustainability of their products for the next ten years, subject to further changes to the regulations.”

Kokumi

Other news. As well as the five basic flavours: salt, sweet, sour, bitter and umami, according to the Technical Advisor there is a new sensation which is different and stronger than the familiar umami effect, named Kokumi. “While umami brings a savoury or meaty flavour, Kokumi creates a sensation of richness, body and complexity that some people compare with the way that wines or cheeses age and improve in general flavour over time”, explains Vanwildemeersch. “We have identified this in our test production facility. Making meatballs with small quantities of our Kokumi Flavour produced a distinctly different effect from meatballs that used our Umami White.” An additional effect of Kokumi is that less salt or sugar is required in recipes. Vanwildemeersch: “Kokumi will offer significant opportunities in the market for foodstuffs. These days people pay more attention to the quality and flavour of the food they eat and are always on the lookout for tastier food. If they can cut down on substances which are bad for their health, that’s a nice extra.”

www.foodingredientstechnologies.com