Zero additives, maximum results: How is the baking industry responding to the clean label trend?

The clean label trend continues to gain momentum. ​

Consumers today have ever-growing awareness of the nutritional profiles and origin of the foods they eat, seeking out streamlined ingredients lists and health claims that are clear and easy to understand. Clean label products are minimally processed and contain only ingredients that are free from additives, artificial flavors, colors and preservatives.

More recently, on-pack ‘free-from’ claims, such as gluten-free, dairy-free are being associated with the clean label movement.¹ ​In a 2023 survey, 75% of global consumers believed that a clean-label food and beverage product was ‘natural’ and two-thirds said it was ‘free from synthetics’.²​

In the baking sector, there is growing demand for clean label options, as consumers are unwilling to sacrifice freshness or naturalness; bread was cited by 70% of consumers as being important for natural claims.²​

Consumers are most likely to perceive changes in volume, texture, softness, flavor, and other characteristics when traditional additives have been removed. Achieving a clean label together with desired sensorial attributes and performance, such as shelf life, is a key consideration for industrial bakers.

Yeast products support clean label​

By its very nature, yeast is a clean label ingredient. Single-celled fungi microorganisms, yeasts occur everywhere in nature and yeast extract, made from saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast), is a rich blend of natural components of amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Because it derives from natural fermentation, yeast is infinitely available.

In the baking industry, yeast-derived products can help to improve bread quality by promoting softness and reducing aging without the need for oxidants, emulsifiers or other chemical additives.

Leading yeast extract manufacturer Angel Yeast has a portfolio of zero-additive products which include yeast improvers, flavor enhancers, baking enzymes and bread solutions. All products come with industrial packaging to guarantee protection from damage and cross-contamination during transport and storage, and maintain products at optimal freshness. This offers peace of mind for baking bakers, as well as increased efficiency and cost benefits.  

Angel Yeast’s Industrial Zero-Additives Bread Solution includes the following:​

1. Fresh Yeast​

Yeast is a beneficial biological leavening agent for the human body. Angel Yeast uses advanced control systems, fully integrated automation production, multi-level product quality control, and a standardized logistics system to ensure the stability of the fresh yeast quality.

Its Fresh Yeast contains high quality strains and raw materials and strictly controls the process, with low levels of bacteria and dead cells, resulting in a full fermentation flavor and stable product. It has a high sugar tolerance of up to 25% sugar, more than 2% salt, and has a long fermentation time with full fermentation flavor and aftertaste. It can be more cost-effective than dry yeast.

2. Angel Instant Dry Yeast ​

Angel Instant Dry Yeast is a carefully selected and optimized strain of excellent quality. It boasts better tolerance, stability, and adaptability than regular yeast, making it a reliable performer in a range of baking environments and formulas. Instant Dry Yeast has excellent application effects in the medium to long shelf life of bread. It has good performance in cold shock resistance when added to doughs, with excellent effects in enriched dough typically used for croissants and Danish pastries. It is available in large quantities for industrial bakers, offering both convenience and high-cost performance.

3. Angel PURE Bread Improver (No Added Oxidants, No Added Emulsifiers) ​

PURE Bread Improver is free from added oxidants, emulsifiers, thickeners, and other chemical additives, offering manufacturers solutions for cleaner and healthier labelling. Its main ingredients are enzyme baking products such as protease and Glucose-amylase, enzyme preparations. These give bread long-lasting moisture and softness while increasing volume, improving its texture and enhancing chewiness and digestibility. It also can significantly increase the freshness of bread during its shelf life.

4. BakerDream Bread Flavoring Liquid (Natural Preservative, Extended Shelf Life)​

This is a natural preservative solution that promotes longer shelf life. Because the fermentation produces alcohol, which has a certain natural preservative effect, this can reduce the use of some preservatives, in turn offering the potential for cleaner label solutions.

It is made from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast), and fermentation conditions are strictly controlled for stable and lasting flavor. The product is rich in fruit sugars, which can keep the dough moist.

BakerDream Bread Flavoring Liquid significantly enhances the bread's fermentation flavor, especially highlighting the grape flavor, shortening the fermentation time of the seed liquid, and facilitating quality control. The resulting bread is soft and moist, with a unique fermentation flavor, and improved taste.

5. BakerDream Lactic Fermented Butter (Natural Fermented Butter)​

This is made from cream (milk fat) sourced from cows raised on fresh grass. This results in a pale-yellow butter produced from lactic acid fermentation and containing 82% fat. The production of lactic acid helps inhibit the growth of spoilage bacteria, extending the shelf life of the product. It is free from any added vegetable fats yet has a soft easy-to-spread texture.

The fermentation also results in a butter with a richer, aromatic flavor compared to regular butter.

6​. ​Baker^®​FB Mosh​

Baker^®​FB Mosh is a blended enzymatic preparation consisting of multiple selected biological enzymes specifically designed for maintaining freshness in baked products. Enzyme preparations are natural biocatalysts and have clean label attributes that can help to promote a more natural solution for the food industry.

Baker^®​FB Mosh is designed to solve production issues such as premature aging, water loss, crumb shedding, and hardness during the storage of baked goods. It can keep bread at optimal softness and chewiness within its shelf life, providing consumers with an improved tasting experience and offering baking manufacturers opportunities to create more differentiated products.

References​

1.​ FoodNavigator.com. How is the clean label trend evolving? Mintel talks regulation, processing, and linking ‘clean with green’​ (August 2022).
2.​ FMCG Gurus. The Importance of Clean Label in 2023​ (March 2023).