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Citrus fruit used to make sustainable, upcycled citrus fiber

Pizza Expo 2024 – Top 5 Food Trends

The International Pizza Expo is a trade show that takes place every year in lively Las Vegas. Thousands of pizzeria professionals fill the convention hall exploring the latest food, equipment and restaurant technology. The thrill begins at the entrance door where foodies are greeted with the warm savory aromas of pizza permeating the air. Besides the intoxicating smells, I captured several food trends while strolling the hall floor. Dairy Alternative & Meat Substitute Options Still on Tap Though the meat substitute segment slowed down over the past few years, this segment is still relevant in the pizza category. A handful…

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Soft-baked Cookie - Citrus Fiber Improves Soft Texture and Shelf-life

“C is for Cookie” as in Soft-baked Cookies

“C is for cookie and that’s good enough for me.” These satirical words stem from the iconic Cookie Monster. Though he originated in the USA, this monochromatic blue puppet is recognized all around the kiddie world preaching the good word about cookies! These delicious, sweet morsels come in a variety of flavors, shapes and sizes. They are available with candied toppings, filled with sweetness, enrobed with chocolate or come in different textures. One popular bakery format hot out of the oven includes soft-baked cookies. Soft-baked Cookie Challenges Bakers Face Baking soft cookies comes with an array of challenges. Bakers are…

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Clean Label Food - Citrus Fiber

Clean Label Food & Beverage: 2023 Top Searches

Food trends come and go, however, clean label is here to stay. Although clean label suggests just that, the definition is highly subjective and carries a myriad of meanings. To some this term implies familiarity, naturalness and simplicity. And to others it refers to sustainable and environmentally friendly. Regardless of the clean label food definition, this movement has affected most food and beverage categories to some degree. Citri-Fi Citrus Fiber  – Clean Label Food & Beverages Citri-Fi is produced from byproduct of the citrus juicing industry. The clean process, which is free from chemical modifications, is one piece of the…

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gluten-free ingredients like Citri-Fi citrus fiber in gluten-free bakery

Gluten-free Ingredients: Next Generation Challenges & Solutions

Back in 2005 during my R&D days, gluten-free bakery became the next new hot wave for food formulators. Working in R&D meant you joined sensory panel evaluations or bakery cuttings. And at that time, my bakery team produced never ending rounds of gluten-free breads using a cocktail of starches, gums and gluten-free flours. The polarizing results teetered between a mouth full of sawdust to teeth encased with gummy dough. As a result, formulating with gluten-free ingredients reverted my bakery team to ground zero. At that time, the goal was to create a gluten-free food that was edible and tasted good….

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Egg Replacement - Citrus Fiber in Bakery Foods, Dressings and Sauces

Egg Replacement: The Good Egg – Citrus Fiber

Real eggs are the workhorse ingredients in the food world. They have so many functions in baked goods including aeration, browning color, binding, humectancy and leavening to improve the texture over shelf-life. Moreover, eggs provide coagulation, coatings, crystallization control and richness to a variety of other foods. Besides the functional benefits, eggs also fortify foods with protein content. So, why would the market demand egg replacement options? Eggs experience pricing fluctuations like any other food staple. Temporary anomalies such as the current Avian flu create price hikes and supply constraints that affect companies that are not locked into contracts or…

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Bakery Mixes - Citri-Fi citrus fiber bakery texturant

The Buzz about Bakery Texturants in Bakery Mixes

Bakery mixes are the perfect blend of convenience and quasi-baking from scratch. Because of this, those with tight schedules can throw on an apron and bake at a fraction of the time. Mixes have other benefits in the food land including shelf stability, versatility and customization. For instance, bakery mixes have longer shelf lives compared to their ready-to-eat (RTE) versions. And these mixes can incorporate a variety of ingredients catering to specific consumer diets such as keto, gluten-free and low glycemic. Surprisingly, this food segment rarely gets the airtime compared to the bakery category in general. To provide more insight…

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Keto Bakery Ingredients: Citrus FIber Improves Moisture Retention and Freshness

Keto Ingredients: Keeping it Fresh with Citrus Fiber

Can you imagine giving up pastries, potato chips or strawberry licorice? Some people do to lasso their health back into line. According to the CDC, the obesity prevalence in the USA is 42.4% in 2017 – 2018 (Adult Obesity Facts | Overweight & Obesity | CDC). Though the statistics are ominous, most individuals look into the mirror before calculating their BMI to determine whether they need to diet. Because of this, many adopted new meal plans such as the Keto diet. By definition, this diet curbs carbohydrates so that the majority of the keto ingredients comprise of 70% fat, 20%…

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Bakery ingredients like Citri-Fi citrus fiber improve freshness in baked goods

Bakery Ingredients: 5 ways to use Citrus Fiber

Creating bakery foods is a combination of art and science. Where else can an elbow test measure viscosity or a handful means a cup? Although measuring methods produce the perfect loaf or muffin, bakery ingredients play an equally important role especially on a mass scale. For instance, bakers use additional ingredients not commonly used in home baking to preserve the baked good’s quality during post production, handling and storage. Citri-Fi is an upcycled natural citrus fiber created from byproduct of the citrus juicing process. This natural ingredient provides high water holding and emulsification properties which benefit a variety of baked…

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Turn Oil into Powder using Citri-Fi Citrus Fiber

Turn Oil into Powder: A Medicinal Dilemma

Dry or powdered foods existed since prehistoric eras. Drying foods extended the availability for longer periods of time which became an essential survival technique. Not only did it preserve foods like meats but it also eased travel with less weight to carry. Today, a variety of foods come in powder form for similar reasons such as beverages, soups and sauces. Drying off the water to convert the food into powder was a commonality among all these foods. At the same time, a growing need emerged to turn oil into free flowing powder. A rising demand to create oil powder stemmed…

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Citri-Fi Citrus Fiber Improves Nutri-Score and Nutrition Labels of Foods

Improve Your Nutri-Score using Citrus Fiber in Foods

The Nutri-Score is a type of traffic light system which helps consumers in the EU to choose “healthier” foods. For instance, this scoring system classifies foods and beverages into five groups starting with A (green) to E (red). Food ingredients are ranked from 1 to 10 which is then summed up to calculate a letter grade. It is this letter grade that highlights whether the food is healthy or not. For example, ingredients like sugar, saturated fats and sodium worsens the score. On the other hand ingredients like protein and dietary fiber improves the score. From this nutrition label, consumers…

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