A cassava-based wheat flour replacement will appeal to bakery manufacturers keen to develop a wide selection of gluten-free products when it becomes available later this year, claims the US ingredient supplier, American Key Food Products (AKFP). The company’s newly developed King Lion Premium Cassava Flour is made from the root of the cassava plant, which is commonly used to make tapioca starches, granules and pearls.
The supplier maintains that, unlike other formulations for gluten-free bakery that are composed of multiple flours and starches, its cassava flour can simply replace wheat flour and makes ingredient inventory and label declaration less time consuming.
Carter Foss, technical sales director at AKFP, said that the product, a year in development, has demonstrated in internal tests that it can provide the taste, texture, crumb and baking characteristics equivalent to wheat flour.
The global market for gluten-free food and drink products has grown exponentially in the past five years with a raft of new products hitting the market, and clear leaders are starting to emerge in what was once a niche.
On the consumer side, demand has been fuelled by greater diagnosis of coeliac disease, sufferers of which must avoid gluten in everything they eat. The disease currently affects an average of one in 300 people in Europe, one in 200 in Germany and one in 100 in the UK.
Manufacturers have been quick to seize upon the opportunity, bringing a raft of gluten-free products to market ranging from cereals and pasta to cookies, crackers, snacks and bread.
Read the full article by Jane Byrne, published 14-Jan-2010: www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Science-Nutrition/New-cassava-based-flour-boost-for-gluten-free-bakers-says-AKFP.
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