Food and Beverage
who serves up a smorgasbord of solutions? we do.
In addition to the air we breathe, nutritious food and water are essential elements for the life we live. Ashland applies its knowledge of polymer structure and function to find solutions to help keep your food products fresher longer. As solvers, and people who like delicious food, we work with you on products that can help make healthier version of familiar and favorite foods. Whether your challenge is reducing oil, while retaining crunch and flavor, in fried foods or keeping your whipped topping fluffed enough to handle not just one but two cherries or mixing up mouthwatering baked goods, Ashland can help. We can also serve up solutions for the frozen foods and meals that so many busy people rely on for healthy, tasty meals on the run. And, our ingredients for savories and sauces can help spice things up a bit. Ashland even works to make our four-legged family members happy by making pet food both delicious and nutritious. We look forward to working with you and cooking up some solutions and recipes for success.
Our food ingredient solutions add texture, increase moisture, and improve processing efficiency and finished-product quality in major food applications. We combine our applications knowledge, market insight, and our distinctive product portfolio to create value for you and tasty food products for your customers.
The results are all around you:
- economical protein stabilization in acidified dairy products
- enhanced moisture and shelf life in bakery products
- enhanced mouthfeel in reduced-sugar beverages
- reduced oil uptake in fried foods
- reduced saturated fats with meat substitutes
- reduced milk fat with creamy mouthfeel in whipped toppings
Our global network of research and application scientists mixed with a full array of products and chemistries, carefully blended with our expertise and liberally sprinkled with a passion can result in delicious and delectable outcomes for you.
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Beer and Wine
The answer is clear
Read More >Wine connoisseurs, brewers and beer aficionados agree - clear is best and Ashland has a solution to keep your blends and brews clear and stable, regardless of the size of your brewery or winery. Clarifying and stabilizing beer and wine improves, not just the visual appeal, but the taste as well. Ashland solvers keep pace with the growing number of micro-breweries, while still delivering results to big brewers alike. Instead of getting hoppin' mad at foggy beer - call Ashland - we'll use our heads to find a solution for yours.
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Beverages
Drink up
Read More >Global trends, such as low or no calorie drinks, are driving changes in the beverage market. Unfortunately, reducing the amount of sugar can also alter the mouthfeel. Ashland scientists continue to test and taste, to refine solutions to create tasty thirst-quenching beverages. To keep pace with the changes, get in step with Ashland as our products can help you stay a step ahead of the trends.
Low- and no-sugar beverages are becoming increasingly popular due to the focus on widespread obesity. When decreasing the amount of sugar in beverages, either through direct removal of sugar or by reduction of juice-solids content, a loss of mouthfeel (body) occurs. Ashland’s cellulose gums control beverage rheology to compensate for this loss without adding calories and provide consumers with the sensory properties and clarity they would expect from a full-sugar beverage. Ashland has solutions for ready-to-drink and instant beverages, for low-pH formulations in which additional protein stabilization is needed and for ready-to-drink cocktails in which alcohol-tolerant grades are useful.
Ashland also offers a range of solutions for improving other properties of beverages. Polyclar™ stabilizers can significantly enhance the quality and clarity of fruit juices, concentrates, ready-to-drink coffees or teas and beer or wine. These highly effective stabilizers are used to either prevent or remedy haze and oxidative problems caused during the production process, as well as to improve shelf life. In addition, other cellulose gum grades are designed for stabilization of tartrates (KHT) and thus prevent wine crystals in rosé and white wines. No matter the drink, we have a solution. -
Bakery
Rising to the occasion
Read More >From the earliest of times, various grains have been ground into flour to make bread. Fast forward to the 21st century and various diets that shun carbohydrates including bread. At Ashland our teams separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of solutions - sorting, testing and trying new, better solutions that deliver improved results for our downstream customers. One Ashland solution supports the rapid adoption of 'gluten free' diets. To address this trend, food manufacturers are seeking solutions to deliver the taste, texture and volume people love and expect from bread, muffins, etc. - so if you and your bakery products need a raise - give Ashland a call.
From birthday cakes to bran muffins and gluten-free bread, consumers enjoy moist bakery products throughout all stages of their lives. Ashland offers a wide range of solutions to bakers for improved shelf life, appearance, quality and yield.
The exceptional ability to control water enables cellulose gum formulators to develop products that stay fresh and soft longer, giving you an improved shelf life. Increased moisture content in the batter also means that the surface of the baked product does not dry out as quickly, making the final product more attractive with less of a tendency to dry or crack.
For more complex formulations, Benecel™ modified cellulose delivers dough stabilization and batter aeration to improve volume and structure. Benecel modified cellulose also inhibits moisture migration into pie crusts and prevents boil-out while heating fruit bars and pocket-dough products due to its unique, reversible thermal-gelation property.
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Dairy
Churning up possible solutions
Read More >Whether from cows, sheep or goats, the world of dairy continues to grow and evolve. Yogurt, milk, butter, and a wide assortment of cheese are some of the products that start as milk. Regardless of the final product, Ashland wants to work with you to find solutions for your products, such as improved shelf life, better texture or more stability. As solvers, the folks at Ashland apply their passion to new and better ways to deliver rich, full-bodied ice cream or manage the acids in milk drinks to improve shelf life. Ashland is churning out solutions... for you.
Ashland’s hydrocolloids are an excellent solution for ice creams, low-pH beverages and other dairy-based products where stabilizers are needed for optimal shelf life, viscosity and mouthfeel. For example, acidified-milk drinks are popular in many countries. Lowering of pH by the addition of flavors or by the activity of lactic acid-producing bacteria may cause separation of serum due to aggregation of milk proteins. Cellulose gum stabilizes the proteins, preventing serum separation in acidified milk drinks by increasing the viscosity and electrostatic repulsion.
Ice cream also needs stabilization with the repeated freeze-thaw cycles common in product distribution channels. These fluctuations in temperature, known as heat shock, cause the available water to coalesce and form large, coarse ice crystals imparting a granular consistency. Cellulose and guar gums control the water mobility and formation of ice crystals in ice cream to deliver rich full-bodied products with the desired flavor and consistency profile that formulators demand. -
Meat
Cooking up sizzling solutions
Read More >Beef, chicken and pork are important sources of protein and nutrients. Whether meat is at the center of the plate or a savory accent, many consumers will try to incorporate meat into their daily diet as incomes allow. Meat processers play a prominent role making meat more affordable, improving the eating experience and adding variety. The right formula can improve yields and optimize costs while meeting consumer expectations for product appearance, texture and flavor.
Ashland Benecel ™ modified cellulose and Aqualon™ cellulose gum are well suited to meat applications. We have grades of modified cellulose and cellulose gum which provide binding, moisture retention and texture for a range of meat applications. Our ingredients help provide versatile, cost-effective solutions with good eating quality for emulsified, injected and frozen meats.
In emulsified products, such as sausages, the water-binding properties of cellulose gum and modified cellulose produces a pleasing mouthfeel, along with less phase separation or cracking. The water-binding property also acts as a release agent when peeling off meat casings. In brine-injected meats, cellulose gum improves injection uptake and overall yields in addition to allowing for the replacement of higher-priced hydrocolloids, such as blends of locust bean, guar and xanthan gums.
We invite you to talk to one of the solvers on our technical team to find out more about how our ingredients can support your next meat protein project.
products
Meat products are listed below, use the filter to find the products that meet your specific needs.
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Prepared Foods
Delicious and nutritious
Read More >Minimize oil uptake, while maximizing crunch, taste and texture - no small task but Ashland is up to the challenge. As passionate, tenacious solvers we enjoy solving tricky - yet tasty - challenges. Providing fried food - that while low in fat - are high in flavor and crunch is a goal for food manufacturers in many parts of the world and as a global company, Ashland can work with you to find solutions. Ashland also has the history of delivering solutions for improving the taste and texture and 'mixability' of dry mixes. Let Ashland take a bite out of your problems with a full serving of solutions.
Fried foods are popular in all regions of the world, yet consumers look for reduced-fat foods that deliver good taste and texture. Reducing oil uptake can lead to healthier foods, improved quality and decreased manufacturing costs. Ashland’s modified cellulose and cellulose gum products have been proven to reduce oil uptake while improving product integrity through thermal gelation and water binding.
Prepared foods range from fried foods to dry mixes to extruded snacks, and the water-binding properties of our gums add value from processing to the final bite. Are you having problems extruding a new snack formulation? Cellulose gum can act as an extrusion aid by retaining water in the mix. Do your customers complain that a dry mix does not hydrate fast enough? Cellulose gum can improve hydration speed by pulling the water into the formulation. Or maybe you are just looking to retain shape through various freeze-thaw and cooking cycles. Cellulose gum and modified cellulose deliver structure control and stabilization.
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Sauces and Savory Products
Serving up solutions
Read More >The secret is in the sauce - or so we've been told. Sauces add flavor, especially to frozen meals. To keep the flavor with the food, it's important to keep sauces from separating or becoming too runny, which can happen through the freezing / cooking cycle. When it comes to cooking up solutions, Ashland offers options to make your sauces as visually appealing as they are tasty - and it's not a secret!
Sauces and savory products require good texture, taste and stability. Ashland’s food-gum technologies deliver high-performance thickening and stabilization. We offer a range of solutions from cellulose gums and modified cellulose that effectively control and reduce syneresis to improve product appeal.
Sauces are an excellent way to add flavor and nutritional value to frozen meals. Not all sauces create better visual appeal and ease of use, however, as they tend to spatter, run off or become watery during cooking. The thermal gelation, water-binding and stabilization properties of Benecel™ modified cellulose enable food formulations to develop sauces that not only deliver the desired taste, but look and remain appetizing after freezing and reheating. -
Whipped toppings and desserts
Dabs, dollops and desserts
Read More >Who doesn't love dessert - especially when it's topped with a dollop (big, little or in between) of whipped topping! Both dairy and non-diary whipped toppings deliver visual appeal and, more importantly taste! Ashland teams are at the ready to provide solutions to keep the whipped topping - where it should be - on top. The Ashland team solves the big issues - how to reduce the fat, while maintaining the flavor and texture so everyone can enjoy their just desserts.
Dairy or non-dairy whipped toppings are popular for both flavor and aesthetic qualities. Ashland’s AeroWhip™ modified cellulose and Benecel™ modified cellulose are used as whipping aids to create stiff foams, increase overrun and control syneresis. Formulators are able to reduce fat content by up to 20% and still have outstanding foam stability.
And let’s not forget the toppings. Toppings, like sauces, require good texture, taste and stability. Ashland’s food-gum technologies deliver high-performance thickening and stabilization. We offer a range of solutions from cellulose gums to modified cellulose that effectively control and reduce syneresis to improve product appeal.
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Pet Food
Tail waggingly good
Read More >Pet food makers the world over are barking for solutions for better texture and substance for their canned, semi-moist, and dry pet foods. Keeping food moist, creating thick, delicious gravy and keeping food safe and stable are just a few of the solutions Ashland can offer. Although the Ashland team is on two legs instead of four, they are dedicated to find solutions for pets and people alike. Ashland solutions are purringly and tail waggingly good.
Pet food industry trends closely follow global food trends driving pet food manufacturers to look for texture, stabilization, water-binding and thickening solutions. Ashland’s cellulose and guar gums offer solutions for canned, dry, and semi-moist pet foods.
Cellulose gum is a good thickener for the liquids associated with all-meat canned products or where gravy is used. Its ability to control water helps with the finished product appeal and during processing to help facilitate the conveying and filling operations.
The high water-holding capacity of cellulose gum makes it a useful additive for moisture retention in soft, moist products. This is particularly true with soft, moist cat foods, in which the product should not dry out after removal from the package. -
Plant-based meat and seafood alternatives
who sprouts solutions for plant-based proteins? we do.
Read More >There has been a growing popularity of plant-based foods for not only meat alternatives but also seafood alternatives. Motivations for eating plant-based proteins include seeking a diet with variety, concern for animal welfare, allergen avoidance, and health improvement. This variety of needs has increased innovation in end applications, ingredients, and textures.
Proteins serve a functional as well as a nutritional purpose in the end applications. Replacing animal-based proteins with plant-based proteins is not always easy but can be achieved with the use of hydrocolloids.
Benecel™ MX and NEW Benecel™ MX 100 methylcellulose are specially formulated for meat alternative, seafood alternative, and plant-based applications.
features and benefits of Benecel™ methylcellulose:
- strong thermal gelling provides a meat-like texture
- emulsification stabilizes fat and water to retain moisture
- low gel temperature grades provide a firmer bite at eating temperature
- high viscosity grades provide superior shape retention
- plant-derived
Benecel™ methylcellulose webinar
In the video below, Ashland scientists present solutions for alternative protein applications. Watch to learn:
- features and benefits of methylcellulose
- how methylcellulose can be used to provide texture and structure to alternative protein applications
- thermal gelation properties of different grades on methylcellulose
- about NEW Benecel™ MX 100 methylcellulose, suitable for large-scale, high production of meat alternatives
- how methylcellulose can be used for economy formulation in processed meat
. Click here or the video to learn more.
Have questions about how Benecel™ MX and Benecel™ MX 100 can help you overcome your plant-protein challenges? Contact an Ashland solver.
Products for plant-based protein applications are listed below.
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Plant-based dairy
who whips up solutions for plant-based dairy applications? we do.
Read More >The plant-based dairy market is rapidly growing due to increased consumer demand. Factors impacting the plant-based dairy market include environmental and allergen concerns as well as significant interest in plant-forward eating. Formulators face significant challenges when creating plant-based dairy alternatives including taste and texture. Hydrocolloids can be used to help overcome formulation challenges and create a product with the quality and texture consumers desire.
Ashland has a variety of solutions suitable for plant-based dairy applications that provide a range of textures from very firm, to semi-firm, to soft, and anywhere in between. Our hydrocolloids are an excellent solution for plant-based dairy alternatives and provide the stabilization needed for texture and mouthfeel.
Ashland products can be used in a variety of plant-based dairy applications:
- hard cheeses
- soft cheeses
- cream cheese
- cheesecake
- barista milk
. . . and more