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Plant-based Dips: A Party Game Changer

A party is not complete without an assortment of flavorful dips to dress up the chips. In the past, the best party hostess would fan out the traditional guacamole, salsa and ranch. But, over the years, the dip category exploded into a medley of options. As a result, party planners now can offer a variety of plant-based dips including hummus, queso and tzatziki. These vegan dips are made dairy-free using different legumes, nuts or vegetables as bases. Though plant-based dips can simulate dairy-based dips texture, taste and shelf-life, they too come with similar challenges. For example, water loves to migrate…

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Upcycled Citrus Fiber - Citri-Fi

Top 5 Facts about Citri-Fi® Upcycled Citrus Fiber

The True Citrus Fiber Pioneers – Fiberstar, Inc. The Fiberstar team takes pride in being the upcycling citrus fiber forerunners. For over 20 years, Fiberstar’s expertise revolved around creating value-added products from plant-based fibers, specifically citrus-based fibers. This technology evolved years before other food ingredient companies jumped on the bandwagon after noticing the value that citrus fiber brings to the food and beverage market. The 20-year mastery in citrus fiber technology and dedicated passion built a solid foundation for converting side streams into value-added ingredients. Because of this, Fiberstar produced a line of citrus fibers that fit today’s paradigm –…

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Formulating with Citrus Fiber

6 Ways to Formulating with Citrus Fiber

Look at a food product’s label and you will be daunted at how many food ingredients are listed. Some are your classics found in grandmother’s pantry. Others struggle to roll off the tongue easily. And then some ingredients read like hieroglyphics dug up from an Egyptian crypt. Regardless, formulating with citrus fiber and/or other natural functional ingredients can help clean up food labels which improves the product’s image. The market demands more natural ingredients that create high quality healthy food products with a long shelf-life. Using the words ‘natural ingredients’ and ‘long shelf-life’ in the same sentence is an oxymoron…

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Pumpkin Pie Filling - Citrus Fiber

Perfecting the Pumpkin Pie Filling – Citrus Fiber

Tis the season when baristas whip up frothy pumpkin spice lattes and shoppers restock their pantries with pumpkin spice everything. Over the years, pumpkin spice penetrated almost every food group including beer, cookies, candy and even butters. This flavor trend evolved into a tradition which marks the dawn of a new season. Despite pumpkin spice’s trendiness, its popularity originated in the traditional pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin Pie Filling Pitfalls As soon as Fall arrives in the U.S., every baker is pumping out fresh pumpkin pies. And like most shelf-stable foods, pies fall victim of stability issues. Over time, water migration…

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plating agent - citrus fiber - dry carrier

Plating Agent: Citrus Fiber Nature’s Dry Carrier

In previous articles, Fiberstar touted how Citri-Fi citrus fiber converted liquids into flowable powders. Though it sounds like a form of wizardry, this citrus fiber’s high surface area lends itself to this magical act. And when stacked up against other plating agents on the market such as maltodextrin, food starches and silicates, many prefer citrus fiber due to its clean label status. Plating Agent Magic: Citrus Fiber Citri-Fi is an upcycled citrus fiber produced from byproduct of the citrus juicing industry. The process, which is free from chemical modifications, opens up the fiber to create high surface area. As a result,…

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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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ice cream stabilizer replacer - Citri-Fi citrus fiber

Ice Cream Stabilizers: Churning with Substitutes

Hydrocolloids are so dramatic! Their procurement story endures twists and turns caused by numerous factors. For instance, if farmers are spared from adverse weather conditions, then geopolitical instability may exist. If regions are in harmony, then logistics face shortfalls. These dramatic wrenches disrupted the food ingredient supply chain today which includes hydrocolloids. Because of the hydrocolloid supply constraint, frozen food developers are seeking substitutes for ice cream stabilizers. Hydrocolloids such as starches, gums, and alginates are the backbone in many formulations. Depending on the type, they can provide stabilization, gelation and other effects when used in food and beverages. In…

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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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Citrus Fiber Emulsifier, Stabilizer & Texturant - All Natural

Citrus Fiber: Emulsifier, Stabilizer & Texturizer

Instead of rattling off the Top 5 read Fiberstar blogs in 2021, we will focus on their common hot topics. These top read blogs highlighted Citri-Fi citrus fiber’s ability to emulsify, stabilize and texturize a variety of food products. This might set eyes rolling since there are many food ingredients in the market claiming to do the same. However, this citrus fiber performs these functions “naturally” which sets itself apart from the others. Currently, natural emulsifiers are a rare find. On the other hand, food ingredients like Citri-Fi are available as citrus fiber emulsifiers. Citri-Fi Citrus Fiber Natural Emulsifier Citri-Fi’s…

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Plant Based Meat Ingredients in Variety of Vegan Meat Types

Top 5 Fiberstar Videos Watched in 2021

Every year, Fiberstar publishes the top 5 watched videos. And it is no surprise that in 2021, the top videos involved plant based meat ingredients. In addition, the other top watched topic covered Citri-Fi citrus fiber’s emulsification properties. Although Citri-Fi’s emulsification properties help create succulent vegan meat textures, this emulsification also benefits other food products such as beverages, dairy, sauces and dressings. For the past few years, Fiberstar built a toolbox of solution sets to help product developers create methylcellulose-free meat alternatives. Unfortunately, these is no “one size fits all” when it comes to this difficult feat. Because of this,…

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