Ingredion unveils revolutionary clean label gelling starch
Ingredion’s new NOVATION® Indulge 2940 offers food manufacturers a functional native corn starch with unique gelling and film-forming properties, suitable for dairy, alternative dairy, and coated products.
Ingredion has announced the launch of NOVATION® Indulge 2940, a groundbreaking functional native corn starch that promises to revolutionise clean label formulations in the food industry. This innovative ingredient, designed to meet the growing demand for minimally processed, label-friendly texturisers, offers unique gelling and film-forming properties particularly suited for dairy and alternative dairy cheese products, as well as batters and breadings.
Novel texture capabilities
NOVATION Indulge 2940 represents a significant advancement in Ingredion’s clean label product pipeline. The starch delivers novel texture and mouthfeel characteristics while enabling natural claims on product labels. This development is particularly noteworthy for food scientists faced with the challenge of formulating vegan pizza cheese or coated fried products that meet clean label requirements.
Constantin Drapatz, Senior Marketing Manager EMEA for Clean & Simple Ingredients at Ingredion, highlighted the starch’s capabilities: “Not only can we now offer an innovative solution, we can also improve the stretch or crispness during holding time, respectively.”
This functionality addresses key technical hurdles in plant-based and coated product formulations, potentially opening new avenues for product development.
Consumer acceptance and clean label trends
The introduction of NOVATION Indulge 2940 aligns with shifting consumer preferences towards recognisable ingredients. Ingredion’s proprietary ATLAS consumer insights indicate that “corn starch” as a label term is gaining broader acceptance across food categories. In the EMEA region, corn starch saw a 20 percentage point increase in consumer acceptance between 2020 and 2023.
This trend dovetails with the growing importance of clean label products to consumers. According to ATLAS data, 73% of EMEA consumers now require products made with only recognisable ingredients. For food scientists, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity to reformulate products using ingredients that meet consumer expectations without compromising on functionality.
Technical considerations and applications
From a technical standpoint, NOVATION Indulge 2940 offers several advantages:
- Gelling properties: The starch provides unique gelling characteristics, which can be particularly useful in dairy and plant-based cheese analogues.
- Film-forming abilities: This property is especially beneficial for batters and breadings, potentially improving crispness and texture retention in fried foods.
- Clean label enablement: As a minimally processed, functional native starch, it allows for “corn starch” labelling, which is more consumer-friendly than many hydrocolloids or other texture-modifying additives.
- Cost stabilisation: The reliable supply of this ingredient may offer improved cost-in-use for manufacturers, an important consideration in product formulation and scaling.
Implications for food science
The development of NOVATION Indulge 2940 signals a potential shift in clean label formulation strategies. As consumer demand for transparency and natural ingredients continues to grow, food scientists may need to re-evaluate their approach to texture modification and stabilisation in various food systems.
This innovation could spark further research into the functional properties of minimally processed starches and their applications across different food categories. It may also encourage exploration of synergistic effects between clean label starches and other natural ingredients to achieve desired textural and sensory properties.
NOVATION Indulge 2940 represents a significant addition to the food scientist’s toolkit for clean label formulations. Its unique functional properties, combined with consumer-friendly labelling, offer new possibilities in product development, particularly in the challenging areas of plant-based dairy alternatives and coated foods.
- Visit ingredion.com for more information.
