Just five or 10 years ago, soy ingredients found rather limited use in foods outside the health food arena. Soy proteins served as cost-effective meat extenders in school cafeterias and as alternative formula bases for infants with milk allergies, but could hardly be thought of as mainstream ingredients.
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That reality no longer holds true. These days, soy ingredients are showing up in everything from frozen desserts to meatless entrees.
Market experts attribute their escalating popularity, in part, to well-publicized research linking the ingredients to specific health benefits. Soy's cheerleaders contend components in the protein-packed beans help fend off everything from heart disease to osteoporosis to cancer.
Although some skeptics claim there's a dark side to soy--blaming the beans and/or bean processing methods for afflictions ranging from pancreas pathologies to impaired thyroid function--their assertions appear to be having little negative impact on the market for soy-containing food products.
In fact, The Freedonia Group Inc., Cleveland, says U.S. demand for soy protein products grew 11.6 percent between 1997 and 2002, while demand for soymilk grew 38 percent during the same timeframe. The industrial research firm projects strong continued growth in both areas.
Focus on health
Soy's status as a nutritious food ingredient--and a protein-packed carbohydrate replacement--makes it a logical fit for our increasingly health-conscious nation. And thanks to FDA-approved heart-health claims and savvy marketing campaigns, consumer awareness of potential soy-related health benefits is at an all-time high.
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According to Jean Heggie, segment marketing director for The Solae Co., St. Louis, 74 percent of consumers perceive soy as a healthful ingredient. 'It is a great choice for companies looking to introduce more healthfully positioned food products in the refrigerated and frozen food sector,' she adds.
The soymilk success story is a good example of increasing consumer interest in soy's health benefits, says Heggie. 'Once a niche product found only in health stores, soymilk now represents a nearly $700 million category, with its strongest sales gains occurring in mainstream supermarkets,' she says.
Reduced-carb diets have had a 'significant impact' on the use of soy protein in food products across all sectors of the food industry,' says Russ Egbert, director of protein research for Decatur, Ill.-based Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM), a major supplier of soy-derived ingredients. 'Soy protein is used and has been used in most of the chicken that is found in frozen entrees,' he notes. 'It should show up in many of the frozen baked goods, as well as in frozen pizza, to address the low-carb lifestyle needs in these areas,' he adds.
'Soy protein can 'increase the protein content, deliver health benefits and improve the overall health perception of carbohydrate-reduced products,' notes Heggie. Remake candidates include pasta, fish and appetizer breading systems, juice-based beverages and many other refrigerated and frozen foods.
A matter of taste
Soy's rise to ingredient superstardom would not have been possible, of course, without the behind-the-scenes efforts of soy suppliers and flavor houses to improve the bean's taste.
'I would say that most of the flavor improvements have come from simply bean selection and how the beans are bred,' says Mark Newman, a flavor technologist for Hope, Minn.-based Sunrich Food Group, a producer, supplier and ingredient developer of identity-preserved, non-genetically modified and organic soy, rice and corn products. 'We grow all sorts of beans and try them out and really look at the taste,' he adds.
Some of the new soy ice creams on the market are 'very good,' Newman adds, a reality he credits, in part, to bean breeding and selection improvements.
Researchers are working to develop soybeans that have low levels of oligosaccharides, notes Brinda Govindarajan, Ph.D., R & D director for Hutchinson, Kan.-based Legacy Foods LLC, a producer of textured soy protein products. The eventual result will be less 'beany' flavor in the defatted flour.
Many soybean processors now use solvent-free processing methods to further improve bean flavor.
For example, Cedar Falls, Iowa-based Nutriant, a Kerry company that produces a variety of soy ingredients, uses a proprietary processing technique that delivers a 'noticeably better taste and aroma,' notes Homer Showman, director, R & D for the company.
'Specific traditionally bred varieties of soybeans selected for their flavor profiles and nutrient content are contracted with family farmers,' says Showman. 'Without the use of any solvents, most of the oil is pressed from these beans. Further non-solvent processing results in higher concentration of the protein fraction, yielding high-protein powders with unique taste, function and performance profiles. This process allows the ingredients to be labeled as natural and organic, if the beans are organic.'
Soy protein manufacturers continue to hone processing methods to improve soy protein flavor characteristics, says ADM's Egbert. 'These are minor changes in multiple areas that are considered proprietary,' he adds.
Finally, flavor companies continue to develop new--and to enhance existing--masking agents and flavors geared specifically toward soy.
Because soy exhibits complicated off-notes, it often presents a flavoring challenge, contends Kim Gray, principal scientist for Erlanger, Ky.-based WILD Flavors Inc. In fact, depending on the bean and the processing method, the base product could exhibit any one or a combination of common off-notes, she says, including beany, green bean, 'Play-Doh,' hay and grassy characteristics.
Gray developed Wild Flavors' Resolver[R] technology for off-flavor suppression and optimized it for soy proteins. 'The Resolver ingredient doesn't have a taste of its own--it's strictly a taste modifier,' she says. 'We can use it in a soymilk, or we can use it in a soy burger--we tweak the formula just a little bit for different soy applications.'
The company then uses flavorings optimized for soy products to further improve flavor.
'For a soymilk, it pretty much comes down to chocolate and vanilla,' says Gray. 'Any kind of fruity-type flavor [such as] strawberry, for example, gets absorbed by the protein,' she says.
Donald Wilkes, president and CEO of City of Industry, Calif.-based Blue Pacific Flavors & Fragrances Inc., says his company's research and development team has found traditional flavor-delivery approaches inadequate for managing the protein absorption issues brought on by soy's complex protein structure and binding sites.
'We approach flavoring soymilk and masking off-flavor issues on several factors, including the specific soy base and its quality, vitamin or mineral fortification, and the sweetener blend being used by the food or beverage processor,' says Wilkes. 'Typically, we try to understand the nature of the off-taste.'
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After performing a thorough analysis of the base product, Blue Pacific's experts apply the company's masking technology, if needed, before optimizing the flavor system in an in-house ultra-high-temperature laboratory processing system, says Wilkes.
'Traditionally, vanilla works well in rounding soymilk and creating a less astringent mouthfeel,' notes Wilkes. However, he says the company recently introduced a Natural Flavor technology that can mask the bitter compounds and astringent profiles in non-vanilla-containing soymilk and other soy products.
Soy flavor advances have benefited the sweet and culinary areas as well.
Most companies now realize they need to bump up the flavor levels to overcome the protein taste in soy-containing meats and meat analogs, says Gray. 'I think initially the companies were expecting the kinds of levels you would put into other kinds of meat products,' she says.
WILD Flavors' Sweet group uses mainly soy isolates in product development because those generally have a cleaner taste, notes Gray. Although certain flavors might always be problematic with soy, others that actually work well have been under-used, she contends.
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'One of my product developers likes to use cinnamon-based types of things in her sweet products because cinnamon works quite well in covering up some of the [soy off-notes],' says Gray. 'But you don't see many cinnamon soy-based products on the market.'
Competing in soy
How can food processors best take advantage of soy's rising popularity across mainstream America?
First, they should find the right soy product for the application.
'Food developers should contact their soy protein supplier to discuss the required functional properties of the protein and the best protein options for their application,' stresses Egbert.
Jim Holbrook, vice president, food science research and development for The Solae Co., agrees, noting that soy suppliers also can assist in product formulation. 'The Solae Co. uses its knowledge in formulation technology to ensure our products function smoothly in food companies' manufacturing processes,' he says. 'By doing this, we add value to process offerings and improve profitability.'
Processors also would be wise to focus on the development of 'new great-tasting soy-inclusive products' instead of attempting to mimic existing non-soy products, stresses Terry Gieseke, director of business development for Nutriant. 'Trying to taste like an existing product with some soy hidden in it can be frustrating for all parties concerned,' she says. 'Start with the best-tasting soy ingredients you can find and, as with a lot of [other] new products, sampling is a great way to get that first great taste.'
Application support from the soy folks and the flavor houses also is key.
