Ingredia presents milk proteins in shelf-stable and high protein snacking concepts

05 Dec 2017 --- Consumers around the world are increasingly interested in achieving wellness through a healthy diet. To meet this mainstream trend, food and dairy producers continue to reduce fat content while increasing the protein amount in their products. At this year's FiE, Ingredia were presenting healthy, convenient and indulgent products with their PROMILK 600 A and PROMILK SH 20 dairy ingredients.

PROMILK 600 A is an innovative milk protein, exceptional with its creaminess properties. Its unique functionalities of fat replacement and emulsifying capacities create healthy dairy products with an indulgent texture.

Very good rehydration and texturing protein: these are the main qualities of PROMILK SH 20. PROMILK SH 20 is a micellar casein (92 percent casein and 8 percent soluble proteins) of which the rehydration is facilitated in comparison with standard milk proteins. Its texturing capacity allows a perfect firm and smooth texture to dairy products.

Global competition in high protein dairy products is also encouraging many suppliers to introduce innovations in new formats. In stores, consumers now have the choice of different chilled and shelf-stable products: mini formats and packs, and on-the-go products and now Ingredia believe they have the solution with PROMILK 600 A and PROMILK SH 20.

Speaking to NutritionInsight at FiE last week, Cécilia Autran (pictured), Senior Product Manager at Ingredia, said: “We are presenting

two new innovations at FiE. The first one is the shelf-stable dairy snack. We used three kinds of proteins – Promilk SH 20, Promilk 600 A and a native whey protein – in order to attain this level of gel texture and firmness. It is very firm, and if you take it with your hand, you won’t have anything on your fingers. We can keep it for almost three months at room temperature – 25C.”

“The protein level is 13.5 percent proteins inside, and only 5 percent fat. We needed to combine them with the functionalities of two proteins – Promilk 600 A and Promilk SH 20 – in order to have a great texture both in the mouth and in the hand. The idea behind this concept is to take it in your hand for snacking or after sports or something similar,” she explains.

The products are both clean label because Ingredia uses very simple ingredients: only water, cream and milk proteins.

“Promilk 600 A is not very new in terms of proteins, but it is very popular in high-protein yogurt because of the creaminess,” notes Autran. “With the Promilk 600 A, we have very high protein content in the yogurt but with a texture similar to a standard yogurt. This protein is very well-known for the creaminess without fat. So we can formulate a low-fat product with this protein.”

“Promilk SH 20 is used in cheese without whey separation because when you produce traditional cheese, you have the curd and the whey,” she explains. “The yield is about 10 percent: 10 percent cheese and almost 90 percent whey. With this new technology, without whey separation, you made the recipe at the beginning, and at the end, you will have 100 percent cheese. This one is very highly functional micellar casein and it’s very useful in these applications but in combining both, you have this kind of texture, so firm also creamy. So the innovation is combining those two proteins.”

According to Autran, there are several other application areas where these ingredients can be used: “In yogurt, in cheese, in drinks, you might find examples with Promilk 600 A,” she adds.

“The second concept we developed with Promilk 600 A was a shelf-stable yogurt with high protein content. Almost 6 percent protein in the product – because all around we can find shelf-stable yogurt, drinking or spoonable, but the protein content is

around 2.5 to 3 percent – which is quite low. It’s very innovative to increase the protein level in the yogurt. The protein level is 6 percent in the end product and only 2.5 percent fat,” she claims.

In terms of the texture, it has a very smooth, creamy texture but this product is as fluid as a standard product with 2.5 percent protein. “That’s because of the mix,” continues Autran, “600 A is a very particular protein adapted to high-protein yogurt drinking. We are seeing an increased demand for this kind of product. It’s very new and appealing to many of our customers and their consumers. We have a lot of demand for shelf-stable products, mainly in Asia: China, for example, but also in the Middle East and Africa,” she notes.

The texture is a quite new concept, it’s almost like a jelly. The innovative thing is the texture and the level of protein in a shelf-stable yogurt. We could also present this to the confectionery, snacks and dairy industries and in the future, there may also be opportunities within the specialist sports and senior nutrition segments as well,” she finalizes.

PROMILK SH 20 and PROMILK 600 A, the ally of shelf-stable high protein dairy snack

Thanks to these two unique milk proteins, the dairy snack meets the challenge of combining:

Convenience: in a mini format – very well adapted for the on-the-go lifestyle
Healthy: containing 13.5 percent protein and 5 percent fat
Indulgent: a creamy and firm dairy snack
Clean-label: without stabilizers – only the best of milk

By Elizabeth Green & Paul Creasy