SternVitamin Launches New Premium Quality Vitamin E Acetate Product

Being a fat-soluble vitamin, vitamin E has a hydrophobic effect. That causes an oil film to form on the surface when drinks are fortified. SternVit E 50% SD prevents this phenomenon.

3/29/2011 --- In view of the continuing health trend, foods with additional benefits offer considerable value-added potential. Added vitamins are especially popular in cereals and beverages. Breakfast and ACE drinks now constitute a category of their own in the field of fruit juices, and also in dairy products. With its new SternVit E 50% SD SternVitamin now offers a single ingredient that promises a number of technical and also economic advantages.

Being a fat-soluble vitamin, vitamin E has a hydrophobic effect. That causes an oil film to form on the surface when drinks are fortified. SternVit E 50% SD prevents this phenomenon. A characteristic of the powder is its excellent dispersibility in water; the reason is that the oil droplets are optimally encapsulated and thus finely dispersed in the drink. No oil film can form on the surface, and the specially chosen encapsulation matrix minimizes the usual cloudiness in the drinks. Further advantages become apparent during processing: the spray-dried product is free-flowing and does not form lumps even under humid conditions. It consists of at least 50 % vitamin E acetate (DL-?-tocopheryl acetate) with special carriers and flow aids. Together, these constituents form a slightly granulated powder with very good flow properties; it is easy to use and creates very little dust. The product retains its characteristics even under extreme climatic conditions, as applications technologist Verena Budnick explains: “Stress tests in the climatic chamber have shown that SternVit E 50% SD does not lose its structure even at temperatures above 37°C and a relative humidity of 75%. The samples exposed in open containers showed no tendency to agglomerate even after several hours. With this new single ingredient we can offer our customers high quality at competitive prices”.

As a single ingredient, SternVit E 50% SD is suitable for all foods that are to be fortified with micronutrients. The range of applications includes drinks for athletes, ACE energy drinks, juices and other beverages, muesli and muesli bars, baby food and dairy products – from milk and flavoured milk drinks through yoghurt to milk powder. Of course SternVit E 50% SD can be added to food supplements and special foods for athletes, too. It can also be used in products for vegetarians and vegans, since the micronutrient has no animal ingredients whatever – neither milk proteins nor gelatine. And genetically modified substances are out of the question. SternVit E 50% SD is also available in halal or kosher quality at the customer’s request.

Like all the other micronutrients, vitamin mixtures and mineral premixes from SternVitamin’s product range, the new vitamin E acetate is produced at one of Germany’s most modern compounding plants. This high-tech unit consists of three separate, fully automatic blending lines and several pilot blending lines for different quantities and products. There is also a counter-current container blending unit designed to pharmaceutical standards in a completely new and separate part of the factory. All the steps in production are accompanied by a sophisticated quality management system.