We live in a fast-moving world and because of the power of social media and the opportunities this brings, food manufacturers are striving to think of new and interesting ways to capture the attention of consumers. One recent trend has been the use of striking colour in foods, although it appears that the food world has moved on from the ‘rainbow’ craze. The latest new trend in restaurants and cafes calls for black coloured foods. There are inevitably several options which can be used to achieve a black colour in foods including squid ink or carbon/charcoal (E153 carbon black). There is however a far less sinister sounding option which food manufacturers may not have considered – malt.
Muntons, the Stowmarket based malt and malted ingredient manufacturer has developed a product they call ‘Torrax’ made from roasted malts, which introduces in addition to intense colour addition subtle dry bitter notes, is clean label and is suitable for vegans.
Ultra-dark malt extracts
There are a range of ultra-dark products made by Muntons which fall into two general categories, all made by the concentration of aqueous extracts of roasted malt. Torrax has been developed for general food use in applications such as biscuits, breads, breakfast cereals, brownies and cakes, where clarity is not an issue. Clarimalt is a range of ultra-dark products specifically developed for clear beverage applications but is also useful in sauces, pickles and gravies. Both the Torrax and Clarimalt ranges provide very high levels of colour as well as providing subtle roast malt flavour and are available in either a liquid or convenient powder form.
The benefits of Muntons ultra-dark extracts
Declared as “Barley malt extract” on labelling, these products provide a useful way to colour a variety of food and beverage applications whilst keeping the label clean. At the lighter end of the ultra-dark range, Torrax XD and Torrax XD2 introduce mild smoky and roasted flavours, ideal for stocks and sauces whilst also adding richness of colour. Darker products from the ranges such as Torrax XD3, XD4 and XD5 bring much less developed and more subtle flavour addition making them ideal for colour adjustment in any application.
Muntons ultra-dark ranges are soluble in water and are resilient to freeze-thaw instability, boiling and extremes of pH (range of use 3-10). Application usage can start from as little as half a percent for slight colour adjustment. To meet the food trend for extreme black colour, inclusion would need to be nearer 4% depending on the application and the desired level of colour intensity.
Muntons ultra-dark ranges are soluble in water and are resilient to freeze-thaw instability, boiling and extremes of pH (range of use 3-10). Application usage can start from as little as half a percent for slight colour adjustment. To meet the food trend for extreme black colour, inclusion would need to be nearer 4% depending on the application and the desired level of colour intensity.
