Fiber for Dairy Products

The days of having to choke down dry, flavorless nutrition bars to get your daily dose of fiber are over. Fiber ingredients have come a long way, and can now easily be incorporated into a range of foods and beverages.

A popular addition to good-for-you bakery and cereal applications, fiber has now also found a place in dairy applications. Fibersol®-2, a digestion-resistant maltodextrin from ADM/Matsutani LLC, is 90% soluble dietary fiber and can be used to boost the nutritional value of cheese-type products, yogurt-type products, flavored-milk-type products, ice-cream novelties and more.

Fibersol-2 is unique in that it is colorless, odorless and tasteless; adds minimal viscosity; contains minimal sugars; and is soluble in water up to a 70% w/w solution, says Käti Ledbetter, product development scientist, ADM. It is suitable for low/no/reduced sugar, low/no/reduced fat, and reduced-calorie applications, as it only contains 1.6 calories per gram and contains very few simple sugars. It can be used up to 10 grams (dry basis) in any food application while providing only 0.20 grams of sugars (typical value). In addition, Fibersol-2 is GRAS as maltodextrin, and it is easy to formulate into new or existing food products.

To make it even easier, the company developed the Fibersol-2 calculator (fibersol2.com) to help product developers determine the correct usage level of Fibersol-2 in an established formulation.

The calculator lays out two easy steps to follow in order to understand the amount of Fibersol-2 to be used in the formulation, Ledbetter says. By following the steps and inputting the values of the amount of fiber desired in the finished product, and the serving size of the finished product, a quick calculation is performed and the amount of Fibersol-2 to be incorporated into the formula is given as a percentage. In addition, the possible fiber claim is given in the output.

Of course, the company recommends referring to Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations when making claims, as factors such as total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium in the finished food, as well as standards of identity, must be taken into account to allow a claim.

In order to make a good source (10%+ Daily Value) of fiber claim, 2.8 grams of Fibersol-2 must be used in order to reach the 2.5 gram amount needed to make the claim, assuming that Fibersol-2 is the sole source of dietary fiber in the application, Ledbetter says. In order the make an excellent source (20%+ Daily Value) of fiber claim, 5.6 grams of Fibersol-2 must be used in order to reach the 5.0 gram amount needed to make the claim, assuming that Fibersol-2 is the sole source of dietary fiber in the application.

For one prototype, a chocolate-chip cookie ice-cream sandwich, Fibersol-2 was incorporated into the chocolate drop for the cookie, as well as into the low-fat, no-sugar-added vanilla ice cream, for a finished product that contains 5 grams fiber per 55-gram sandwich.

Besides dairy products, Fibersol-2 can be incorporated into virtually any food application, including beverages, baked goods, snack foods, dips, sauces, dressings and confections. It is heat-stable and does not break down or change under acidic conditions, pasteurization or other heat treatments.

ADM/Matsutani LLC

500 Park Blvd., Suite 1240

Itasca, IL 60143

Phone: 217/451-4377

Fax: 630/250.8725

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: fibersol2.com