Regulatory Overload - A Non-Scientific Perspective

The recent debate over the re-evaluation of GRAS rules in the US brought this interesting but telling trivia from a couple of highly qualified regulatory persons we know:

"For PGA, the dossier submitted to FDA was about 1 inch (2.54 cm) thick" "For xanthan, the dossier was 6-8 inch thick" "For gellan gum the dossier was nearly shoulder-high at 55-60 inches

With all the new testing technology available, imagine how tall the dossier for a new food additive petition (FAP) would stand today. The gellan submission to FDA in 1987 was big news at Kelco, then a division of Merck. A copy of the Kelco Kelegram article announcing what was to become a hydrocolloid milestone, along with a photo of the dossier is HERE.

The 'measure the height of the dossier' method is not a rigorous analysis of how complicated food approval has become. It does, however, give a broad idea of the exponential data submission and expense required. No wonder gellan gum is the last hydrocolloid to have been through a full Food Additive Petition (FAP) in the USA, and EU for that matter. No wonder most innovation in food ingredients since then has been under a GRAS process or, in the EU, a Novel Food process.

The imposition of new GRAS procedures in the US is likely to raise barriers to innovation and slow down the process. It will mirror the re-evaluation of all additives which is on-going in the EU on a ten year cycle.. Are we perhaps undervaluing "the test of time," whereby some ingredients have been used without any problems for a very long time? Hydrocolleauge opinions & thoughts always welcome.

Cold Water Instant Noodles

Nissin Foods of Japan is world-famous for its instant cup of ramen noodles that must be prepared with hot water. Adding hot water softens the noodles and may also serve as a 'kill step.' The company has recently launched a version that may be prepared with cold, preferably chilled, water.

Nissin currently offers only two flavors: kimchi and chicken lemon. Both flavors use the same hydrocolloids: modified starch and ?? Can you guess which is the other hydrocolloid? The main non-Chinese producer of this "Other" hydrocolloid is Japanese. Send your guess before looking up the answer online. Or wait until next week when we announce the mystery hydrocolloid.

Clean Label - Not Consumer-Driven?

A hydrocolleague is challenging the origins of clean label wishes with a basic premise: How many times have you seen a lot of people in a supermarket checking labels before making a purchase?

The answer, we must admit, in our experience is: Seldom do we see label checkers.

One explanation, perhaps, is that a consumer who has checked the ingredient label once is unlikely to check it every time they buy the same item. Their mistake. Remember our coverage of Benefiber(TM) and PHGG?

And yet, there is no question that food companies are falling over each other to "Clean up the label" by reducing the number of ingredients, changing some, and eliminating others.

So, who or what is driving the clean label craze?

We do not have the answer, but welcome input from our world of Hydrocolleagues.

Novel Fiber

Take a juice by-product, upcycle the fiber, call it a Novel Food, and get EU approval. It just happened.

Do you know what the product (Novel Food) is and which company got the approval?

Not directly related to hydrocolloids, but related to regulatory approvals.

Answer next week.