The food tech industry is developing rapidly. For the food sector, it is more important than ever before to be able to switch quickly, to adapt processes and to seize opportunities. Within the sector, the demand for smart industry is also increasing, with a growing role for 3D printing. Because only 3D printing materials that are intended for food contact and certified for food safety may be used for 3D printing of food applications, professional 3D printing company Oceanz offers the option of 3D printing through EC 1935/2004 certification.

Oceanz Food Grade – EC 1935/2004
In order to deliver a food-safe 3D printed product, the material must be suitable according to the requirements of EC 1935/2004 and produced in accordance with the EC directive 2023/2006 (Good Manufacturing Process). The material is therefore safe for production with consumption purposes or may come into contact with food. Oceanz 3D printing processes are designed to comply with these regulations. The processes are included in the quality system and validated by external accredited parties. These testing facilities will adhere to various government-mandated risk tolerances and approved substances.

Technological developments in the food sector
The new Food Grade options at Oceanz 3D printing show even more that Additive Manufacturing is a very mature process. 3D printing technology has gained momentum and has reached a higher level. The increase of Smart Industry within the food sector also leads to the emergence of smart factories with more machines and robots. Developments that every company in the sector has to deal with. Food companies will have to keep up with these technological developments. With the use of Additive Manufacturing, companies can now innovate even faster and meet the high standard of requirements. 

Why 3D printing for the food tech industry?
The choice to opt for 3D printing within the food tech industry offers advantages such as design freedom. Think of the production of custom parts and complex or organic shapes. This, in particular, can be very attractive for food-related applications. It also enables small stocks and ensures rapid development from prototypes to functional parts. Some application examples: grippers, nozzles, machine parts, prototypes, robots, and drones. Oceanz Food Grade is also well applicable within the AgriTech sector.

Customisation
If desired, tests can be carried out for specific raw materials or circumstances (such as temperature and raw material).

Sweegen’s expertise in manufacturing, and its investment in technology and science presents a strong advantage in the natural sweetener market because of several factors. 1) Unique IP, a proprietary manufacturing process with several granted and pending patents. 2) Regulatory compliance. 3) Highly efficient manufacturing process that ensures sustained availability, consistent quality and competitive pricing. 4) Vertical integration, large capacity and food grade GMP facilities in Europe and Asia that ensure continuous production and quality standards.

In Europe, Sweegen’s facility has the capacity to produce at least 3,000 metric tons of stevia sweeteners per year.

The sweetener molecules are a result of a process starting with sustainably-sourced stevia leaves in which naturally-occurring sweet compounds, called steviol glycosides are extracted.

Enzymes are used to bioconvert these steviol glycosides into the preferred, better tasting components, which are then isolated and purified. The sweetener molecules produced (Reb M, Reb D or any other targeted steviol glycoside) are identical to those found in nature. The result is great-tasting, next generation stevia sweeteners for use in beverage and food products which delight global consumers.

Since the best tasting molecules are in such small quantities in the leaves, Sweegen uses its bioconversion technology to produce a range of stevia sweeteners with assured quality, regulatory compliance and competitive prices.

Vitamin D is well known to be essential for older people. The role of Vitamin D in bone formation and mineralization is well recognized. Recent scientific research also points out the role of adequate levels of Vitamin D in a wide range of areas including blood sugar levels, cognitive functioning, skin health.

Vitamin D is produced in the skin under the influence of sunlight (UV-B), but many people are deficient in Vitamin D. This deficiency can result from inadequate exposure to sunlight, due to an indoor lifestyle and skin covering. In addition, as skin thins with age, vitamin D synthesis becomes much less efficient in older people. The authorities therefore recommend to consume sufficient vitamin levels. With Earthlight® it can now simply be a vegan vitamin D.

Earthlight® is a whole food powder from mushroom, 40,000 IU/g  of Vitamin D. It is non-GMO and does not affect the organoleptic properties of formulations. After extensive review of this mushroom-based ingredient, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has positively assessed the safety of  Earthlight® Vitamin D as a novel food pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2020/1163. The approval covers Earthlight’s use in a broad range of food, food supplement and beverage products, ranging from breakfast cereals and bakery products to juices, dairy products and soups, broths, dairy alternatives and meat alternatives. Earthlight® is produced from mushrooms via a patented process, by exposing these mushrooms to light.

The coating process of Mineral Salts, especially of Iron Salts can be done with different coating materials. Dr. Paul Lohmann^®, your expert for tailor-made Minerals, offers sustainable produced hydrogenated or non-hydrogenated palm oil as standard coating materials. Now the product range is extended with sunflower oil and rapeseed oil. Both oils are fully hydrogenated and tasteless and offer the same taste-masking effects like the common palm oil.

The alternative coating materials show a better heat stability compared to the palm oil encapsulation. Temperature controlled release experiments show a release from the palm oil encapsulated product between 50 and 60°C, whereas the release from sunflower and rapeseed oil encapsulated products starts at 60°C. This allows the selection of the most suitable product, depending on the final application.

Drug release experiments in simulated gastric juice show a very similar releasing behavior of the different coating materials. The non-encapsulated product is completely dissolved after 20 minutes. The release rate from the encapsulated products is below 10% after 100 minutes.

Herbalife Nutrition has developed a unique vegan protein shake; Tri Blend Select. Tri Blend Select is composed of protein from pea, quinoa, flaxseed and rice. Many vegan shakes on the market do not provide complete protein, however our product provides 20 g complete protein per serving and contains all essential amino acids in amounts high enough to meet nutritional needs*. The plant protein blend in Tri Blend has been formulated to be a suitable replacement for milk protein. The product is gluten-free, low in sugar, high in fibre and contains organic ingredients, vitamin C and 7 naturally occurring key minerals, all in just 151 calories. As such, Tri Blend Select solves the problem of people on plant-based diets who lack high quality options to fulfil their protein needs. What is more, our product helps consumers to switch to a more sustainable diet, without compromising on protein accessibility, quality or taste.

* Tri Blend Select protein meets the protein requirements of both pre-school aged children and adults as defined by the WHO.

Being inspired by nature’s unrivalled engineering, Time-travelling Milkman (TTM) has developed food processing designs based on the preservation of the naturally occurring fat droplets inside the plants, called oleosomes. Olesome’s unique structure (a fat droplet with a very strong membrane) makes them the ideal milk fat equivalent with a great potential for creamy plant-based dairy. TTMs approach is as simple as it is ingenious: using this perfected through the millennia technology and omit any need for mixing and stabilizing. All that is needed is to extract Oleosomes with fairly simple processing steps using only water without breaking them.

The advantages of such a process will be:

• Resource- and cost-efficiency;
• No additional emulsifiers nor mixing is required;
• Completely natural fat droplets (Green label, no E-numbers);
• High protein content. Proteins are co-extracted with Oleosomes;
• Fat soluble vitamins (e.g. vitamin E) are maintained inside the droplets.

In addition, based on TTMs scientific knowledge, they can modify the properties of Oleosome extracts and obtain ingredients in the form of liquids, thick creams or powders before distributing it to their customers. The knowledge on the extraction and ingredient development processes is their strong proprietary know-how and has high potential to be protected with patents.

Spices have been used for centuries and are getting more an more appreciated for their health benefits. Antioxidative and anti-inflammatory black cumin (Nigella sativa, “seed of blessing”) is one of these spices which was further investigated by spiceuticals manufacturer AKAY. The result of this 5 year intensive R&D project is a clean, safe and bioavailable health ingredient, standardized on its active: thymoquinone. Sales and marketing partner Lithos Ingredients is bringing the ingredient to the European market with a clear focus on BlaQmax as a natural, clean label, highly bioavailable black cumin extract with the highest thymoquinone contents. At a dosage of 100-200 mg a day, BlaQmax is an ingredient to be used in food supplements, either as a liquid or as a powder.

Consuming an adequate amount of calcium is essential for people with increased calcium requirements like children of school age, pregnant women, athletes, seniors or people who have to take resorption-inhibiting medication. Calcium aids in preventing deformities and softening of the bones such as rickets, osteoporosis or bone fractures. Moreover, calcium plays a role in muscle function, heart function and in our nervous system. Calcium is of key physiological importance. Bones and teeth consist of calcium compounds, and countless neuronal and biochemical processes are based on calcium.

With the newly developed Tricalcium Citrate 4-hydrate superfine, Dr. Paul Lohmann^® found the answer to a high demand on a calcium citrate with a clearly reduced speed of sedimentation in dairy products and plant based milk alternatives. With this superfine powder, customers will be able to fortify their dairy products with calcium with a significant reduction of sedimentation during the production process.

The Research and Development department did a lot of application trials with Tricalcium Citrate 4-hydrate with different particle sizes like normal powder, micronized powder, fine powder and superfine powder. The products were tested on their performance in different kinds of dairy products, cream and oat milk. The test results showed that the superfine powder was the best performing product within this series of tests, with the slowest sedimentation velocity and the smallest amount of sediment at the bottom of the testing tubes. Another positive effect is the improvement of taste and mouth feeling by using the superfine powder.

Dr. Paul Lohmann^® your manufacturing expert for tailor-made Mineral Salts.

Immuno-LP20™ is the world’s first natural immunobiotic – probiotic technology developed to support a healthy immune system.

Immuno-LP20®™ is a heat-treated strain of Lactobacillus plantarum(L-137). It has a 5-year stability and is a non-spore forming ingredient, so it can easily be used in supplement and powder applications with a dose as low as 50 mg/day. Immuno-LP20 is light brown powder free of unfavorable organoleptic properties.

It is already being used in health foods, including supplements, powdered drinks etc. for immune enhancement. The HK L-137 in the product induces IL-12 and IFN- β production of immune cells. Furthermore, it shows improvement of Th1/Th2 balance and activation of effector cells such as Natural Killer (NK) cells and Cytotoxic T Cells (CTLs).