Comfort in a Cup

Michelle Schwenk, Food Scientist
Michelle has worked with Tate & Lyle, Decatur, IL, for 10 years. She holds a master's degree in food science from the University of Illinois and is a member of a number of professional organizations, including the American Association of Candy Technologists and the Institute of Food Technologists.Michelle has published articles on sugar-free products, innovative processing techniques and starch in confections. Before joining Tate & Lyle, Michelle worked for Crest Foods, Ashton, IL, a dairy stabilizer company.

Perhaps it is because comfort foods, for me, are becoming more important, or maybe because it is my husband’s favorite dessert, or perhaps it’s because I am just old enough to remember images of Bill Cosby’s smiling face telling me how delicious it is, or how easy it is to make. Whatever the reason, I like pudding. I like all kinds of pudding— tapioca, vanilla, butterscotch—and we have it frequently at my house for a snack. That is why I was excited last year when we decided to show a pudding cup enhanced with an excellent source of fiber for the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Expo.

The first challenge was to identify a co-packer willing to do a special run just for us. We ended up choosing one in the upper Midwest. At the plant, my goal was to adapt a formula of pudding. The co-packer was already aseptically packaging, and substituting the existing sweeteners with PROMITOR™ Soluble Corn Fiber at a level to achieve an excellent source of fiber. My plan was that this formula would be easy for them to run (it would be their existing formula) and demonstrate how easy it is to convert an existing formula to one that has lower sugar, lower calories and fiber.

We replaced the existing sweeteners with PROMITOR™ Soluble Corn Fiber and it ran just as expected, with no problems. The parameters were the same, the processing was the same, and the finished product was just as delicious as their regular product.

So, the goal was accomplished, and at IFT we showed an aseptically packaged pudding that had an excellent source of fiber. To verify the fiber level, we sent before and after samples for fiber analysis by AOAC method 2001.03, and the fiber levels were the same before and after processing, meaning none was lost in the aseptic process.

The pudding has a one-year shelf life, and so what we didn't give away at IFT, we shipped back to our lab. When they are out of date, I admit I will miss my occasional snack of the delicious pudding, assuming any cups are still left. All in all, it was a great experience, and a great prototype.