Nu-Tek Food Science, Minnetonka, Minn., has signed an agreement with Tovani Benzaquen Ingredients, Sao Paulo, to distribute Nu-Tek Salt Advanced Formula Potassium Chloride to food manufacturers in Brazil.
Pork rinds are probably the most misunderstood item in the snack category. This is surprising, because people have been eating pork rinds—also called pork skins—as long as they have been eating pigs. One of the world’s first snack foods created thousands of years ago, and favored in the southern states, pork rinds are a simple combination of fried pork skins and salt.
Simple salt just won’t cut it in the competition for consumers’ popcorn-craving palettes. Unique ingredients and flavor profiles are helping popcorn manufacturers go for their personal best in the great snacking games.
Low in calories, high in fiber—popcorn may just be the perfect natural snack. Of course, that doesn’t stop manufacturers from trying to up the ante by enhancing all the whole grain has to offer. Now, popcorn can be found competing with chips, pretzels and even candy in the snacking Olympics.
Pretzels have been around for more than a thousand years, originating in southern Europe around 610 A.D., according to historians. Today, crispy,
hard pretzels are consumed by people in many of the countries represented at the 2012 Olympics.
Crackers and crisps are benefitting from new production techniques, better-for-you ingredients, cleaner labels and innovative flavors as manufacturers deal with consumers having less discretionary income.
Crunch and flavor have always been gold and silver medalists in the cracker and crisp game, but because consumers are looking for more healthful snacks, there have been interesting developments with these products.
Tortilla chip manufacturers are using innovative shapes, zesty flavors and healthy ingredients to turn consumers’ everyday snacking occasions into mini fiestas.
Harris Interactive recently released the results of its 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend study, which analyzed the responses of more than 38,500 consumers on key measures of brand health for more than 1,500 lifestyle, product and service brands. When questioned about the brands they are likely to reach for when craving a salty snack, respondents chose Lay’s Potato Chips—the top-ranked salty snack for the past eight years—followed by two other Frito-Lay North America brands, Doritos and Tostitos.
The Minnetonka, Minn.-based food solutions and potassium chloride supplier strikes a deal with Barentz Europe B.V., which is present in 26 countries in Europe, to distribute its Advanced Formula potassium chloride to food manufacturers in Europe. Nu-Tek says that governments in the U.K. and the Netherlands are close to making mandatory rules regarding sodium levels in food products with the aim to reduce high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
A host of new low-sodium ingredients is helping bakers and snack manufacturers give consumers what they want: Intriguing products with less salt and more flavor. Romy Schafer, Contributing Writer
April 23, 2012
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report in February that reconfirms what most adults already know: A majority of Americans consume too much sodium. Too much sodium can increase the risk of high blood pressure, which often leads to heart disease and strokes. Processed and restaurant-prepared foods contain the most sodium of the foods people eat.