Reduction of saturated fats (in spreads and confectionary filling)

Session: Chocolate Production – New Technologie & Developments

Chocolate spreads and confectionery fillings contain a great amount of saturated fats, which are contained in high quantities in palm oil. Currently, there is an increasing interest in the food sector in the reduction of saturated fatty acids (hydrogenated fats) due to their negative health effects as well as their ecological burden referring to palm oil. Therefore, several investigations focused on the reduction of saturated fatty acids using functional ingredients which incorporate a high amount of polyunsaturated fats.

The focus is the research on finding alternatives to reduce saturated fatty acids in chocolate spreads and chocolate fillings. The oleogels have proved to be a promising substitute raw material, the use of which is to be further monitored in the presentation. Results are shown, which first describe the production of various oleogels in a laboratory scale and additionally show which analytical methods can be used to characterize these oleogels. However, the main focus of the presentation is on the practical applicability of these oleogels in chocolate spreads and chocolate fillings with the aim of maintaining product characteristics such as melting behaviour or texture, while at the same time gaining a better the nutrient profile.