Baking&Snack - December 2012 - 46

COLORS

Not even a ‘color’

Some bakery ingredients just so happen to contribute desirable color as well. “Our intensely roasted malted barley and malted wheat ingredients contribute color to baked goods and snacks, said Judie Giebel, technical ” services representative, Briess Malt and Ingredients Co., Chilton, WI. “These roasted grains are milled into fine flours and function as insoluble colored compounds that Dark roasted malt contributes color by dispersion, similar to a pigment. When used in natural deep colors to sandwich baked goods, they provide a rich, solid, consistent color, cookies and pumpernickel bread. Briess Malt and Ingredients the same as any flour. If used in a dilute solution, speckling can occur. In bread and bun applications, these ingredients can be used up to 3% (bakers percentage) for color adjustment. “Bakers can achieve golden brown to amber hues with caramel malted barley flours, while deep almost black — think Russian ryes and pumpernickels — can be achieved with black malted flour, she continued. Roasted grains have ” no enzyme activity; therefore, they do not interfere with the dough matrix. “We recently introduced an ingredient line made from intensely roasted malted grains that functions as a partial cocoa replacer, Ms. Giebel said. “There’s a version ” that replicates the color and flavor of standard natural cocoa, contributing a warm milk chocolate color. Another provides a light tan to deep golden amber and still another that ranges from deep dark brown to rich black. Bakers are having great success with these in sandwich-style cookies at 20 to 25% cocoa replacement. ” formulators have less control over their function. “Depending on the process, some exempt colors are challenging to use in baked goods and snack products,” said Faith Carlson, R&D technician, QualiTech Co., Chaska, MN. “Exempt colors are most successful in extruded pieces where the color is added right before extrusion and the heat step is quick compared with products that undergo lengthy proofing and baking steps.” Because exempt colors vary so much, formulators should consult with suppliers about their use. “It is best to work with a food color scientist to understand the limits within a specific application,” said Rebekah Petges, technical support manager, baking and processed foods group, Sensient Colors LLC, St. Louis, MO. She cited the example of pH limits for anthocyanins, red shades derived from black carrot and purple sweet potato. These are most stable at a pH below 3.8. At the higher pH levels common in baked foods and snacks, the shade shifts from red to purple. “In baking applications with higher water activity and high pH, anthocyanins will degrade,” she explained. Source is important, too. “Vegetable-based anthocyanins, however, have greater heat stability than the fruit-based anthocyanins due to acylation properties,” said Jennifer Brown, global application scientist, DDW (formerly D.D. Williamson), Louisville, KY. Heat plays a key role, according to Chad Ford, product manager, colors, WILD Flavors Inc., Erlanger, KY. He explained that if the anthocyanin beet color is used in a baked food, it has to be overdosed to compensate for color loss due to heating. Often, color choice becomes a case-by-case decision, according to Jeannette O’Brien, vice-president and regional technical account manager, GNT USA, Inc., Tarrytown, NY. “While incorporating our fruitand vegetable-based red and purple shades into grain-based bakery products can be challenging, many

FDA does not consider any color added to a food product to be natural, except if the color is natural to the product as when using blueberry juice to color blueberry pie filling. law requires most dyed foods to bear a warning notice — a powerful incentive for bakers to avoid their use.

Working with exemptions
Exempt colors are isolated from plants, animals or minerals, and thus, they have more consumer appeal than certified colors. Because they are derived from so-called “natural” sources,

/ Baking & Snack / December 2012

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Baking&Snack - December 2012

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