BASF Invests in Danish Food Ingredient Formulation Site

BASF's Ballerup site is certified in accordance with the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system, which guarantees that the food ingredients manufactured there are safe for consumers.

15 Apr 2010 --- BASF has invested over € 6 million in the optimization and upgrade of the Ballerup site for food ingredient formulations in Denmark. Situated near Copenhagen, BASF’s Nutrition Ingredients business unit, affiliated to the Care Chemicals division, produces high-quality, microencapsulated carotenoid and vitamin powders, supplying customers from the food, beverage, pharmacological and infant nutrition industries with the carotenoids beta-carotene, lycopene and lutein, vitamins A, D3, E, K1 and B12 and omega-3 fatty acids. The fortification of staple foods for developing countries, particularly vitamin A, has recently become another important business area.

"The investment allows us to respond even more flexibly and reliably to customer demand," comments Preben Sørensen, BASF’s site manager at Ballerup. "We now have cutting-edge process control technology, an additional packaging line and improved logistics.

Furthermore, completely separate production lines ensure that products containing gelatin and those without gelatin don't come into contact, thus preventing possible contamination. That's an important concern for customers who supply vegetarian, allergen-free, kosher or halal products."

“Approximately 100 employees are now producing optimized, higher quality products even more efficiently and reliably at the Ballerup site, further increasing its market leadership in nutrition," says Dr. Martin Jager, head of BASF's Nutrition Ingredients business unit.

BASF's Ballerup site is certified in accordance with the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system, which guarantees that the food ingredients manufactured there are safe for consumers. In addition, the site also operates according to GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) guidelines, designed to assure the quality of production sequences. Ballerup was recently inspected by the competent food safety authorities and subsequently approved as a food production site. Furthermore, the so-called MUI halal certification, awarded by the Indonesian Ulema Council, and the kosher certification attest to BASF's compliance with Muslim and Jewish food laws in its production processes.

The Ballerup site specializes in the microencapsulation of food ingredients. This technology concentrates finely dispersed vitamins, carotenoids and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in small starch, sugar or gelatin balls which enhance their stability and handling characteristics for further processing. Microencapsulation enables the addition of these highly sensitive, predominantly fat-soluble nutrients to virtually all types of foods, beverages and dietary supplements. BASF has over 30 years of experience in the field of microencapsulation technology and supplies many different products of excellent quality, ranging from cold water dispersible powders for beverages like lemonades or fruit-based drinks to directly compressible powders for

Universal Formulas, another BASF range, consists of vegetarian, protein-free, allergen-free, kosher and halal formulations suitable for a global market. As BASF customers, food manufacturers can market their products worldwide, irrespective of regional, religious or personal preferences, resulting in higher flexibility and a simpler supply chain. The most recent Universal Formula product is the starch-based LycoVit 10 CWD/S, a cold-water dispersible lycopene for the fortification of beverages and foods. Another example of a recent product launch is the high-load, microencapsulated PUFA-product Dry n-3 DHA 11 (docosahexaenoic acid), developed for infant formula and maternal nutrition, food applications and nutritional supplements.