As Curic-Bawden says, “Driven by consumer demand, some products ‘cleaned up’ the ingredient list and now have reduced levels of added sugars, no high-fructose corn syrup and no artificial colors or flavors.”
With concerns about sugar cooling the growth of kid-directed yogurts, new, all-natural sweetener alternatives could help redeem the segment with label-reading moms, says Jordi Ferre, vice president, general manager, PureCircle USA, Inc., Florham Park, NJ. “Parents and health officials are increasingly concerned about the amount of sugar and calories in products marketed to children,” he notes. “Yogurt by itself is an inherently healthy product, and using Rebaudioside A to sweeten it keeps it that way while alleviating parental concerns about high sugar contents and artificial ingredients.”
Modified starches and stabilizers, common ingredients in the fruit prep and white mass of conventional yogurts, aren’t always welcome in clean-label formulations, either. This leaves processors balancing market acceptability with product function. “Chemically modified starches are not used in organic products, yet stability to shear during white-mass processing and acid stability in fruit is still needed,” says Joe Klemaszewski, dairy applications food scientist, Cargill Texturizing Solutions, Wayzata, MN. “Solutions developed for yogurt manufacturers include non-chemically modified starches, natural hydrocolloids such as pectins, or multi-component natural and organic stabilization systems.” Which to use depends on a product’s processing, finished viscosity and shelf life. “Low-methoxyl pectins can be used in cup-set or stirred yogurt, while high-methoxyl pectins would be used in fruit preps and drinkable yogurts,” he says. “These considerations are necessary not only in natural and organic yogurts, but in all cultured dairy products, as processes and target textures vary widely.”
Not your plain-old yogurt
Sweet, fruity profiles are still tops with American consumers. “Yogurt fruit flavors tend to follow the beverage market,” says Kate Jacobsen, team manager, multiple food applications, Danisco. There are many choices available to mass-market exotic fruits, but the top sellers are still the mainstream strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and cherry fruit types.”