Coeliac Awareness Week is an annual event that takes place every May to raise awareness of coeliac disease, a lifelong autoimmune condition that affects approximately 1 in 100 people in the UK. Coeliac disease causes the immune system to react to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, damaging the lining of the small intestine, and preventing the absorption of nutrients from food. While there is no cure for coeliac disease, a gluten-free diet is the only treatment available, and this can be challenging for people living with the condition.
One of the biggest challenges for people with coeliac disease is finding safe and reliable gluten-free products. This means that people with coeliac disease must read food labels carefully and avoid any products that contain gluten. However, this is easier said than done, as gluten can be hidden in ingredients such as modified starch, malt extract, and hydrolysed vegetable protein.
Gluten-free products
With the market for gluten-free products growing exponentially by the year, the food industry has a crucial role to play in ensuring that people with coeliac disease have access to safe and reliable gluten-free products. This means not only developing new products that are free from gluten but also ensuring that these products are labelled accurately and that there are strict controls in place to prevent cross-contamination. At Kudos Blends, we understand the demand for absolute assurance and have developed a range of baking powders that are free from gluten whilst offering all the same functional benefits. All our gluten-free products are manufactured in our dedicated gluten-free blending facility to give our customers complete peace of mind.
Battling the misconceptions of gluten-free products
In addition to creating safe and reliable gluten-free products, we are on a mission to combat the common misconception that gluten-free products are bland and tasteless. Typically, when moving from a test bakery to full-scale production, new challenges will arise. This is especially true in gluten-free baking. As well as getting the flavour and texture right, taking gluten out of the dough/ batter will alter its characteristics in ways that often also require fundamental changes to the production process which could increase costs and make production more complex. However, with the use of our innovative ZEUS™ GF range, we can provide the following benefits:
- Greater volume and a softer, moister crumb
- A simple all-in-one mixing method
- Improved handleability of raw mixes (less sticky, more cohesive)
- No post-bake collapse
- Increased resilience in the final product to handling and packing
- Recipe simplification – some ingredients can even be removed for cleaner labels
- Calcium fortification (which can be particularly beneficial in a gluten-free diet)
*Images taken from a Kudos Blends baking project using ZEUS™ baking powders
As food manufacturers and ingredient suppliers, it’s in our hands to deliver tasty gluten-free bakes that challenge the negative connotations associated with gluten-free products, whilst also giving the consumer complete confidence in the products and labelling.
If you’re ready to discover how our gluten-free leavening agents can optimise your business, we’d be delighted to show you how. Get in touch at [email protected]
For more information on coeliac awareness and food labelling, head over to www.coeliac.org.uk