Photo Courtesy of Dairy Management Inc.

Heart healthy. Extra fiber. With calcium added! From vending machines to supermarket shelves, more labels promise baked foods with added benefits as bakers increasingly turn to fortification for its nutritional benefits and selling power. Although these more healthful products meet consumer demand, many of the ingredients used to boost nutritional profiles pose challenges for bakers. Fortunately, there are solutions.

“Bakers are continually learning,” says Kirk O'Donnell, Ed.D., vice president, AIB International, Manhattan, Kan. “They want to make something more healthy, and as they understand more about nutrition and how it can help people, bakers have become very active in making products that contain natural ingredients, whole grains and pre- and probiotics.”

Some are going organic, O'Donnell says. French Meadow Bakery in Minneapolis followed its yeast-free, organic Woman's Bread with Soy Isoflavones with organic Men's Bread, formulated with pumpkin and flax seeds, ginseng, saw palmetto and soy. These ingredients are among the broad array of proteins, minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and vitamins, as well as technical advances, that put the formulation of fortified products within the reach of any size bakery operation, organic or not.

Texture and other issues

When fortifying baked products, bakers should be prepared to deal with issues of texture, mouthfeel and shelf life. Many customers report shelf life issues ranging from microbial to textural to flavor erosion, notes Rajen Mehta, Ph.D., senior manager, fiber applications and technical service, SunOpta Ingredients Group, Bedford, Mass. In whole grain products, consumers like and expect the character of more natural grains, so manufacturers can be more imaginative with the type of grain they use, Mehta adds. However, maintaining acceptable shelf life is tricky. Because of the all-natural trend, bakers no longer have a diversity of ingredients to forestall shelf life issues. In addition, some of the newer natural ingredients further shorten the product's life.

Maintaining a pleasing texture can be one of the biggest challenges in adding a fortifier, says Dayna Syperek, sales representative, Dawson Sales, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. In the case of bran, larger pieces disrupt bread dough's gluten structure and make the product more dense or stale-tasting, she says. Some value-added ingredients create a sticky dough that is harder to handle and leaves equipment more difficult to clean, extending production time and cost. Syperek points out these problems often can be addressed in the formulation or by adjusting the process.

Sharon Gerdes, senior account manager, Dairy Management Inc., Rosemont, Ill., agrees. If dough becomes stickier when whey is added, DMI recommends choosing a whey ingredient that has been more denatured, or changing the order in which the whey is added. Safeway/Lucerne's Eating Right Cranberry Apple Muffins were among 2007's new products made with whey protein concentrate. The latest trend, Gerdes says, is the use of whey protein isolate in higher-protein, lower-carbohydrate tortillas.

“With omega-3s, stability is the main issue,” explains Mary Ekman, business development manager, Pizzey's Nutritionals, Gurnee, Ill. However, flax seed holds up well in bakery foods. Whole seed gives the product eye appeal, but incorporating milled flax allows usage of one of several structure function health claims. The company's newest product combines fish oil and milled flax seed in a product that has a longer shelf life than regular milled flax seed, has no taste or smell, and can be incorporated into dry formulations.