News

Naturex launches Xtrablend OA colour stabiliser

4 May 2016

Naturex is launching Xtrablend OA, a 100% natural solution to increase colour stability by preventing colour degradation in chilled products. It combines acerola standardized in ascorbic acid and onion standardized in polyphenols.

As consumers are increasingly focused on what goes into their food, clean label and naturalness are no longer just a trend but a well-established industry norm, Naturex believes - but the quest for simpler ingredient lists sometimes leads to higher turnover rates for food products. While we are struggling to figure out how to feed the planet, the company says, we currently waste about 40% of the entire food supply (US data), a cause for serious concern.

This is particularly true for the meat & poultry category, Naturex claims, for which “natural” expectations are among the strongest, noting that new product launches with “all natural” or “no additives, no preservatives” claims have increased tenfold over the last 10 years. Consumers mostly base their meat purchasing decisions on the product’s colour, Naturex says, and a “healthy red”, indicator of freshness and wholesomeness, is key to success on the supermarket shelves, whereas discoloured meat often gets discounted or goes to waste even though it is still safe to eat.

In response, Naturex is launching Xtrablend OA, a 100% natural solution to increase colour stability by preventing colour degradation in chilled products. Thanks to the synergistic blend of two natural compounds, acerola standardized in ascorbic acid and onion standardized in polyphenols, this new solution is claimed to provide perfect colour protection without impacting the product’s overall taste. In addition to improving colour stability, Xtrablend OA is also said to be a powerful antioxidant. In a comparative test on refrigerated pork sausages, natural Xtrablend OA showed results equivalent to conventional BHA/BHT antioxidants, helping the sausages to keep an appealing colour and a very low oxidation rate until the end of their shelf life.

In many mature markets, Naturex says, consumption of meat and poultry products is rather flat and is even decreasing in some areas. The company believes that, to achieve better results, meat processors must differentiate themselves by having their products stand out from the crowd. Xtrablend OA can be labelled as “acerola powder and onion extract”, thus enabling the claim “no additives” to be used on the ingredients list.

“As calls for transparency are growing louder, this friendly labelling and natural positioning is a critical point of differentiation from the competition,” said Catherine Bayard, Category Manager at Naturex.. “Xtrablend OA is a very effective tool to help food manufacturers meet consumer expectations for convenient and healthy products.”