Fat Bloom on Lauric Coatings: Composition

Talbot G., Smith K.W., Cain F.W., Fat Bloom on Lauric Coatings: Composition, The Manufacturing Confectioner 2005, Vol. 85(1), 65-68

Over the past year or so there has been considerable pressure on food manufacturers to reduce the levels of trans fatty acids used in their products. Indeed, some countries, Denmark for example, have defined legislative limits for trans in food. Others such as the United States are planning to bring in labeling requirements for trans. Confectionery manufacturers are being affected by these changes along with the rest of the food industry. One area where confectionery manufacturers are being particularly affected is that of compound coatings, where there has been widespread use of fats based on partially hydrogenated and fractioned vegetable oils such as soybean oil, rapeseed oil and palm oil. These, of course, then contain high levels of trans fatty acids, often as high as 50 percent. While the oils and fats manufacturers have responded to this by developing lower-trans-content compound coating fats and indeed even a zero-trans content compound coating fat, the confectionery industry has also looked at alternatives.