Milling & Baking News - February 26, 2008 - 44

products are an excellent delivery
vehicle for whole grains and fiber
claims," Ms. Gieseke said. "For example, a 28-gram serving in many pellet formulas will deliver an excellent
source of fiber, and when air baked
or pressure popped, they will contain
less than 0.5 grams of fat."
Nutrition was a focus in 2007 when
J.R. Short launched about 20 new pellet products. Most of the company's
work currently in development for
2008 is confidential, Ms. Gieseke said.
Much of it incorporates whole ground
corn and other whole grains to address consumer interest in great-tasting higher fiber products.
Grande Custom Ingredients promotes the protein content in its WPCrisp, which may be adjusted according to customer specifications from
25% to 70%.
Shape and color also may be customized, and special ingredients may
be incorporated on an as-needed basis.
According to the company, WPCrisp
is ideal for protein fortification in an
abundance of popular products from
protein bars and granola to dessert
toppings and cereals. Grande Custom
Ingredients' food scientists work with
customers to develop the right composition and size of the crisps. Adjusting
protein levels affects the expansion of
the crisp.
Many pellets in Europe are fortified, too. Leng-D'or, Barcelona, Spain,
offers calcium-enriched 100% corn
triangles, which are corn-based pellets in a hollow triangle shape that are
ready for frying. A 100-gram serving
of the product may provide 40% of the
recommended daily allowance of calcium, according to Leng-D'or.
The company's potato string pellets, also ready for frying, result in
a finished product with 40% less

ᮤ Pellets, also known as half products,
may be quite large.

WPCrisp may be used in a host of
microwave applications, according to
Grande Custom Ingredients.

oil than traditional potato strings.
Raw and baked micropellets feature
a low fat content and may serve as
a source of protein and vitamins.
Snacks, pastries, confections, biscuits and breakfast cereals are potential applications.
Limagrain Cereales Ingredients, Ennezat, France, offers high-fiber wheat
Quadritos that allow snack manufacturers to make a high-fiber content
claim for their products. Quadritos
also are rich in vegetable protein,
complex glucides and minerals such
as magnesium and phosphorus. The
company's snack pellets are low in
salt and may contain 1% salt without
impacting the texture and still have
quality taste.

Stars, twists and beyond
Equipment innovation has brought
about a variety of shapes and sizes
for pellets. Clextral, Inc., Tampa, Fla.,
now offers an Evolum 25HT twinscrew extruder that creates extruded
ingredients, texturized proteins and
expanded snacks and cereals.
Limagrain Cereales Ingredients promotes its ability to create mini pellets
as a way to hit the convenience trend

Making convenience count
By working in applications for bars,
snacks and other portable items, pellets are an option when creating convenience products. The microwave is
known for its use with convenience
products. Some pellets also may be
finished in the microwave, either by
grain-based food manufacturers or
consumers.
A new expansion technology allows
J.R. Short to offer microwavable pellets, which require minimal space until they are popped.
"J.R. Short has developed some formulas that are well suited for expansion in a microwave," Ms. Gieseke said.
"This is an area of development we are
continuing to work on in 2008."
Sunlite Pellet Corn Shells from J.R.
Short may be offered alone or used in
cereals and sweet snack mixes. The
Corn Twists also may be served alone
or incorporated into a savory snack
mix. Sunlite Pellet Whole Grain Twists
make a neutral base for both sweet and
savory snacks and may be reduced in
size for salad topping and frozen novelty applications. Sunlite Pellet MultiGrain Triangles offer an alternative to
traditional tortilla chips.

ᮣ Pellets come in a seemingly endless array of shapes and colors. These offer the
added benefit of whey protein content.

CLEXTRALI

J.R. SHORT MILLING

Food Ingredient Solutions

This twin-screw extruder enables manufacture of functional ingredients, whole
grain foods, textured proteins, modified
starches, multigrain breakfast cereals and
snacks, filled products and more.

by offering mini twists, mini rings, super stars and mini squares.
A rice shape with natural dairy flavor is the most popular shape of WPCrisp. Grande Custom Ingredients offers a wide variety of shapes and colors when customers may need them.
Pellets may be produced in twists,
tubes, rings, chips, O's, shells,
ribbons and custom shapes, Ms.
Gieseke said.
"The great taste of the grain ingredients is enough for some products,"
she said. "Others add a touch of sugar
or sweetener, onion or garlic depending on the direction of the final desired
flavor.
"Many pellets now include vegetables such as spinach, sweet potato, tomato or carrots in addition to the corn
and potato you would customarily
find. The vegetables add color, flavor
and the opportunity for some unique
positioning. Fruit flavors and natural
colors can be combined in pellets and
give snack manufacturers a different
option for several demographics." MBN
- Jeff Gelski

GRANDE CUSTOM INGREDIENTS

44 / February 26, 2008

Milling & Baking News

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Milling & Baking News - February 26, 2008

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