Online Exclusive: Fortification Basics

Successful fortification may be as easy as using a nutrient premix blend. However, its important to seek a uniform blend. Blending, testing and processing techniques can make the difference between producing a reliable, high-quality, homogeneous, shelf-stable nutrient premix and an inferior one that may cause poor consumer confidence, potential regulatory issues, or recall situations, says Ram Chaudhari, Ph.D., FACN, CNS, senior executive vice president, chief scientific officer, Fortitech, Schenectady, NY.

Particle size, blending equipment used and the type of ingredients used during the blending should be considered, along with potential ingredient interactions. The challenge in blending ingredients with different particle sizes is that bulk density and variable particle sizes can lead to segregation, Chaudhari says. Minor nutrients should be diluted with another carrier to get the two different materials to blend well in order to make a homogeneous product. In the nutraceutical/functional food industries, combination products are the norm, and the most-common nutrients are vitamins, minerals, amino acids, nucleotides and other functional-food ingredients. The average premix formulation contains at least 10 to 14 active nutrients and three to six functional food ingredients or carriers. Some formulations can contain more than 50 active nutrients and carriers.

To comprehend the challenges when producing a homogeneous, correctly balanced blend of these ingredients, Chaudhari offers this: Imagine trying to create a uniform blend of one teaspoonful of granular sugar, three teaspoonfuls of flour and five teaspoonfuls of rice, then add to that blend one-half teaspoon of salt and a quarter teaspoonful of color. Presuming success in combining these ingredients into a homogeneous blend, the next challenge is compressing small amounts of the blend into a serving of a nutritional product. Each serving must contain each ingredient in the same proportion as the blend. In fact, making a uniform blend is one of the most critical and complicated steps in manufacturing premixes that contain multiple nutrients. While there are many possible reasons for these deficiencies, inadequate blending is often the source of variations or absence of nutrients.