Salad Dressings Tap Inulin's Functional Benefits

Prepared Foods, Jan, 2000 by Linda Milo Ohr

A healthy, upscale salad dressing from Maple Grove Farms of Vermont, St. Johnsbury, Vt., taps the unique functional properties of inulin to deliver great flavor and only 1 gram of fat per serving.

"We started in 1915 as a maple company making maple candy. In the 1920s we started packing maple syrup," explains Steve Jones, vice president of sales and marketing. In 1980, the company added salad dressings to its line of products.

"We try to do different flavors not offered by the mass market," says Jones. Examples include a sweet and sour dressing, parmesan and cracked pepper, lemon and dill and a shiitake and roasted garlic. Another favorite is the company's Sun-Dried Tomato with Roasted Garlic. Debuted at the Fancy Food Show in February 1999, the dressing is tasty and low in fat. It contains inulin, a non-digestible fructooligosaccharide (FOS) extracted from chicory root.

"We use inulin in the Sun-Dried Tomato with Roasted Garlic dressing to improve mouthfeel and the emulsion of the sun-dried tomato," explains Suzette Murray, manager of technical services. The company uses Frutafit(R) inulin from Imperial Sensus, Sugar Land, Texas.

The primary function of inulin, says Murray, is its synergistic interaction with the gum system. "The inulin allows us to use less xanthan gum and it adds a little sweetness."

"Frutafit(R) inulin interacts synergistically with gum systems because of its ability to modify viscosity," explains Pam Galvin, vice president sales & technical marketing, Imperial Sensus. "Inulin binds to water more quickly than gums. As a result, food systems that contain inulin, water and gums have a uniform viscosity that is more pliable and less "globby" than gumwater systems alone. This benefit lets the formulator reduce gum use by 20% and have a finished product that is creamier and more fat-like."

Functionally, Frutafit(R) forms fatmimicking gels and improves the texture of lowfat foods. Inulin produces a particle gel in water that gives the finished product a creamy, fat-like mouthfeel, explains Galvin. The improved mouthfeel and texture provide an organoleptic improvement for flavor delivery. Inulin helps round out or temper a food product's acid notes.

Inulin's versatility makes it an ideal ingredient for replacing fat and calories and adding bulk and fiber in a variety of foods such as dairy products, meats, frozen desserts, baked products and snack foods. It adds lubricity to lowfat or meatless products and can increase the bowl life of extruded cereals.

Health Benefits

Murray adds that the secondary reason for using the inulin in the Sun-Dried Tomato with Roasted Garlic dressing was to introduce a natural product in the dressing and to add the prebiotic characteristics of inulin. Frutafit(R) inulin's reported health benefits include reducing "bad" cholesterol levels, increasing mineral bioavailability--particularly calcium--and improving digestion by promoting the growth of beneficial bifidobacteria. Frutafit(R) inulin contains only 1.6 kcal/g.

To document health benefits, Imperial Sensus sponsored a three-week, double-blind study monitoring the impacts of a diet that included 20 gram/day of Frutafit(R) in lowfat ice cream. Patients on the Frutafit(R) diet had improved gastrointestinal condition and reduced counts of blood lipids associated with cardiovascular disease, compared with the control group.

Frutafit(R), sold as a white, odorless powder, is the only inulin in the U.S. to be formally reviewed and accepted by the FDA as a safe, GRAS food ingredient. In addition, the FDA and USDA have officially recognized Frutafit(R) inulin as an accepted ingredient for meat products.