Home > Criteria for use of Flavourings

The use of flavorings in processed foods is determined by a number of factors. These factors are not limited to, but generally include (1) a demonstrable need for the flavor, (2) compliance with legal requirements, (3) compatibility with other ingredients, (4) ability to with[1]stand processing, packaging, storage, distribution, and merchandising conditions, and (5) acceptability to consumers. These criteria will now be examined in detail.

Demonstrable Need for the Flavor:

The most basic and perhaps the most important criterion for the use of any flavor additive is that there must be a demonstrable need for the flavoring. This is a condition that can be satisfied very easily because this need can be illustrated by a variety of conditions such as the need to make a low flavor-impact food to be more appetising, the need to give a definitive character to a food that is fabricated from several component materials, the need to restore the integrity of flavors that have been adversely affected by processing conditions, and the need to cover up the unpalatable taste of bitter pharmaceuticals or nutraceuticals. A reason may be a need to make a nutraceutical more appealing; for example, vitamin C and multivitamin tablets that are coated with a sweet taste. “Nutraceutical” is the term often used to refer to a food, dietary supplement, or biologically active compound that improves health and/or well being.

The need for the use of flavoring may be further orchestrated either in response to an identified trend in society or in response to changing public preferences and prejudices. In this regard, it is pertinent to point out that consumers are ever looking to food manufacturers for new and innovative flavors to satisfy their sophisticated demands. Also, it is not out of place for market leaders to study societal trends and do some form of forecasting to be able to deliver flavors ahead of customers’ demands.

Compliance with Legal Requirements:

It is important to bear in mind that flavorings are additives and, as such, must meet all legislative guidelines before being used. That is, they must meet all relevant safety regulations discussed in Section 5.2. The other point that needs to be made is that a demonstrable need for an additive is in fact a legislative requirement.

Compatibility with Other Ingredients:

The compatibility principle is an exacting one, with very wide ramifications. When we say that flavorings intended for use must be compatible with the other ingredients, this is more than a restatement of the legal guidelines. According to the guidelines, an additive must not impart any undesirable flavor, odor, color, or texture to the food. Put another way, it must not make the food unacceptable in any way. A more exacting requirement is that it must not be antagonistic to the food. For instance, the additive must not bind to any of the nutrients or make them unavailable to the body.

Beyond these legal requirements of compatibility, there are other unwritten rules that are known to practitioners. For instance, some flavors go hand in hand with some colors. For example citrus flavor goes along with an orange color to give orange identity to carbonated soft drinks, lemon flavor goes along with a very light green color to give lemon identity to carbonated lemon drinks, and strawberry flavor along with a light red color confers a strawberry identity on imitation strawberry drinks.

Ability to Withstand Processing Conditions:

Any flavoring added to processed foods must be able to withstand the exacting and often adverse processing conditions such as high temperature, ionizing radiation, sub-atmospheric pressure or vacuum, and super-atmospheric pressures. In other words, the flavoring must be stable and still retain its serving properties after processing.

Acceptability to the Consumer:

The acceptability of the flavoring in the end product is vital to the success of the product. As the whole concept of using flavorings in food revolves around stronger consumer preference and acceptability, it is improbable that a flavoring that meets all the previous criteria will be unacceptable to the consumer. However, in situations where this is the case, the processor has to go back to the drawing board to obtain and present to the discriminating consumer what will be acceptable.

Point of Introduction and Form of Use of Flavorings:

The twin issues of the point of introduction and form of use of flavorings are so intertwined that it is not so obvious which one takes precedence. Although the issues are interconnected, the factor that receives the prime consideration depends on the peculiar case at hand.

Perhaps we can start by stating that, depending on the peculiarity of the vector material and the processing conditions, most flavorings can usually be obtained in more than one of the following forms: liquids, powders, dispersions, and encapsulated. Within these broad groupings, there are subdivisions. For instance, a liquid flavoring can be dissolved in a wide array of media such as water, alcohol, or oil. The form that will be used will be dictated by the nature of the food material to which the flavoring is to be added. A few examples will illustrate this point.

Encapsulated flavorings are produced by special techniques in which the volatile aromatic compounds are locked up or otherwise protected by a thin film of water-soluble gum, starch, gelatine, or sugar. Such encapsulated forms are suited for use in dry food mixes such as cake mixes and soup mixes for the following reasons: (1) They are dry, free[1]flowing and non-hygroscopic powders, and they can therefore be readily incorporated into dry food mixes; (2) they are protected from volatile losses and oxidative changes; and (3) when mixed with water, they disintegrate and liberate the flavoring. On the other hand, oil-based flavorings are usually deployed for uses in fat-based products such as shortening and margarines.

As for the point of introduction of the flavoring, which is also referred to as the mixing sequence, it is to be noted that most food-processing operations consist of a succession of several unit operations. In some cases, the order of succession of such operations cannot be altered without dire consequences. However, there are several other processing operations in which the order of succession can be rearranged. Whenever this rearrangement is possible, the mixing of the flavoring should be done to avoid the most adverse unit operations; that is, adverse with regard to damage to the flavoring. Even in situations where a rearrangement is not possible, the flavoring can still be added towards the end of the processing operation, thus avoiding undue exposure of the added flavorings to damaging conditions.

Finally, it should be emphasized that, by a careful selection of the form of use and the point of introduction of flavorings, the flavoring strength and quality of the added flavor will be retained during processing, packaging, storage, distribution, and merchandizing conditions.

Effect of Processing Conditions on Flavorings in Processed Food:

it was stressed that any flavoring that is to be used in processed foods must be able to withstand the exacting and often adverse processing conditions. Here, we attempt to outline and briefly discuss those factors that may prevent flavorings from being stable and so prevent them from retaining their serving properties after processing. These processing conditions include (1) extremes of temperature (2) irradiation, (3) mixing and contact with air (4) extremes of pressure, (5) mixing sequence, and (6) hydrogen ion concentration or Ph.

Flavor Perception and Flavor Systems:

Flavor perception in food systems is built upon the integration of several aroma and oral attributes of the food. The overall flavor is therefore a combination of taste, feeling, and odor on receptors in the oral (mouth and throat) and nasal (nose) cavities. The general flavors discussed in this volume are perceived the way they are because of the influence of certain “silent” elements of the flavor system. A general review of the broad principles guiding the use of flavorings in the food industry will therefore not be complete without a brief on these elements. These silent elements are in fact elements of the stimuli that affect flavor perception, and are generally classified according to the way they affect the particular food or flavor system. They can be listed either as integers, seasoners, enhancers, potentiators, or antioxidants.

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