Baker Perkins and Rousselot have collaborated to reduce setting times for gelatin gummies to as little as 15 minutes using a starch-free processing, bringing cost, regulatory compliance and innovation advantages to the healthcare confectionery market.
Starch-free depositing has been replacing the starch mogul as the process of choice for gummy and jelly production, particularly in the vitamin supplement and nutraceutical markets. Gummies and jellies are increasingly used to deliver a variety of functional ingredients including vitamins, minerals, fibre, cannabidiol (CBD), protein, Omega-3, probiotics and energy supplements.
They appeal to customers looking to enhance their intake of essential nutrients, but who prefer to do so in a non-pharmaceutical format. Gummies and jellies are particularly effective in the children’s supplement market because of their palatability.
An issue for producers of healthcare gummies and jellies is that the starch mogul process brings with it the risk of cross-contamination of the active ingredients. Starch-free depositing overcomes this, while the partnership between Baker Perkins and Rousselot work to reduce setting times and capital and operating costs.
This has been achieved through a combination of Rousselot’s new SiMoGel gelatin, which is formulated for starch-free depositing; and Baker Perkins’ ServoForm depositors and cooking systems.
The development has focused on being able to remove the products from the moulds in the shortest time possible. A number of factors contribute to this, particularly that the syrup is deposited at final solids. This not only promotes rapid setting of Rousselot’s SiMoGel formulation but also reduces the need for energy-intensive stoving or drying associated with the starch process, further strengthening the economic case for starch-free processing.
In a joint statement, both companies claimed that setting times for gelatin gummies with additives have been reduced to as low as 15 minutes, although this can vary with the specific recipe, additives and final product characteristics required. To allow the product to achieve final texture and moisture, some additional resting or drying time may be necessary, but is significantly less than a mogul line.
A range of test equipment along with process support is available in the Baker Perkins Innovation Centres in the UK and US.
