Contents Page 13 Food Product Development 13.1 Types of Food Industries 2 13.1.1 Types of food industries in Hong Kong 2 13.1.2 Examples of leading local and overseas food 6 companies 13.2 Factors to be considered in research and 10 development of food products 13.2.1 External Factors 10 13.2.2 Trends in the marketplace 10 13.2.3 Internal Factors 15 13.2.4 Designing and Developing Food Products 18 13.2.5 Stages in the production of a food product 29 1 Food Product Development 13 Food Product Development 13.1 Types of Food Industries 13.1.1 Types of food industries in Hong Kong There are different types of food industries around the world and in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, the most active category in food industry is trading. Currently, some major food importers or traders in Hong Kong include Dah Chong Hong, Four Seas, Asia Pacifi c (HK) Ltd, EDO Trading Co., Kwan Hong Yuen Trading Co. Ltd., Sun Shun Fuk etc. Large Hong Kong manufacturers have expanded their global network and set up offi ces or factories in major markets. For example, Lee Kum Kee has factories and regional offi ces in Chinese cities, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK), and Vitasoy has factories in Shenzhen, Shanghai in China, and the United States (US) and Australia. Apart from trading, there is a considerable scale of food production in Hong Kong. Most of the production is for local consumption. Major food products from these industries include instant noodles, pasta, biscuits, pastries and cakes. Others include canning, preserving and processing of seafood, dairy products, seasoning and spirits. Following are different types of food products including (A) beverages, (B) confectionery, (C) dairy foods, (D) bakery products, (E) dessert, (F) sauce, dressing and soup, (G) processed meat and (H) nutraceuticals. (A) Beverages The main category of beverages includes: (i) alcoholic, e.g. liquors like brandy, whiskey etc, wine (red, white, rose), Chinese wine, and beer (ii) non-alcoholic, e.g. carbonated soft drink, fruit juice, cordial (iii) health beverages (functional drinks) Main components of beverages are water, sugar, acid, fruits, and vitamin C. For some soft and functional drinks, water is the vehicle, and is the most important, and these drinks usually contain approximately 12% sugar. Acids like citric and malic acids are used to adjust pH to 2.5-4. Fruit juice, concentrated fruit juice or fruit purée, can be used to enhance the fl avour (as emulsion or straight fl avour) of fruit drinks. The role of sugar should be noted. It functions as a bulking agent which provides viscosity (for mouth feel), this is more important than the function as a sweetener in food processing. Sweetness can be perceived at 3 different ranges: 2 (i) less than 8% (not sweet as sensed) (ii) 8-18% (proportional sweetness) (iii) over 18% (very sweet) Food Product Development As over-consumption of sugar is one of the causes of obesity which may increase the risk of diabetes mellitus and syndrome X etc., many drinks presently contain sweeteners instead. They are polyols like xylitol, sorbitol, isomalt as bulking agent (sweetness 0.4 - 0.5% relative to sugar), and intense artifi cial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose etc. to adjust to the right sweetness level. For carbonated drinks, fl avouring is added. There is usually 0.1% fl avouring in carbonated and sugared water. The fl avours for orange and citrus drinks are emulsifi ed citrus oil droplets, while others like coca-cola are straight fl avours. Phosphoric acid is a common acidulant in cola drinks, with caramel being the colour provider. Fruit juice is not carbonated. If fruit juice level is low, it is known as fruit drink. Cordial is a concentrate, which contains also sugar syrup and / or pectin. It is to be diluted with 3-4 times water before consumption. There are many functional drinks that are made up of herbs extracts or traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Drinks are packaged in glass bottle, plastic container or tetrabrik. Pasteurization or sterilisation (ultra heat treatment (UHT) or high temperature short time (HTST)) is performed to stop bacterial growth. (B) Confectionery This section covers hard boiled, soft gummy, toffee and nougat, fi bre candy and chewing gum. Hard boiled is formed by solidifi cation of super-saturated sugar solution. Flavour and acids are blended into super hot sugar solution which is still plastically soft. By multi-folding while cooling, an individual candy is formed in moving moulds. There is another type called deposited candy formed by depositing dissolved syrup at 150 - 160℃ to stationary moulds. It is “transparent” and has a much better taste. Examples are herbal drops. Various soft candies are formed by gelation of various concentrated solution: starch candy from amylo-pectin starch plus xanthan; gelatin candy from gelatin (source: beef skin or bone, pork skin); “rubber” candy from gum acacia. Like beverages, sugar replacers are employed to make healthy candies. The one mostly used is isomalt. Xylitol, sorbitol, aspartame and sucralose are also used. Toffee is a soft gelatin candy with the addition of milk, being pulled and cut into form. Nougat is a set sugar syrup added with nuts and milk, then solidifi ed and knife cut. Chewing gum and bubble gum are gum base which is made of rubber, plasticiser (glycerin), sugar, acid and fl avour. Ingredients are blended well, cooked, stirred, sheeted and cut, or moulded instead of sheeting for sugar coating. A healthy version 3 of it is “no sugar” with sweeteners. Food Product Development (C) Dairy products Dairy industries in Hong Kong refer to milk, ice-cream and yoghurt. Soya milk is not dairy but only a dairy substitute. The composition of milk is protein (casein and whey lactoglobulin), fat, lactose and water. In the market, fresh milk is sold under “silver” seal; the milk is obtained from cow, pasteurised and packaged. On the other hand, “gold” seal milk is a reconstitution from milk protein or powder, milk, fat and water, with stabiliser added. When fresh milk is disturbed, a layer of fat that fl oats on the surface is butter. When the pH of the aqueous portion is lowered to 4.2, casein coagulates to become cheese. Lactose and whey protein remain in water. Whey protein can be isolated and concentrated to whey protein concentrate (WPC) which is a valuable “healthy” ingredient. Ice-cream is made from solvating milk solid, milk fat and sugar to form liquor, usually added with fl avour, food colour, acids, fruit pieces and stabilisers. After homogenisation, the liquor is chilled and whipped at freezing temperature to form the product. The amount of air incorporated is called “overrun”; overrun 110 means 110 parts of air are incorporated to 100 parts of liquor. When some “good” bacteria (culture) is added to milk, lactose is consumed and turned to lactic acid. At its isoelectric point (pH 4.2), casein coagulates, and yoghurt is formed. In industry, extra milk powder is usually added to the product during bacterial fermentation. The culture grows in population, known as “probiotics”, which is healthy to our large intestine. There are spoonable sturdy yoghurt and drinkable yoghurt like Yakult. Soymilk having nutritional composition similar to milk except casein and lactose is a dairy substitute nowadays. Soya oil, soya protein and soya sugar (called stachyose) can be isolated to be used for various food processing. Soya isofl avone in soy milk is a plant female hormone, which has attracted a lot of attention because of its biological functions such as cancer prevention. (D) Bakery A matrix is formed by hydration of fl our, which is a mixture of protein (gluten) and starch. According to the amount of protein, there are high, medium and low gluten fl ours. Main bakery goods are bread, cake, biscuit, cookie, etc. Chinese cakes like Ma Lai Go or Sung Go are not bakery products because the gas-raising is caused by steaming and not baking. However, there are certain parts of the mechanism which are in common. Bread is made of high gluten fl our raised by yeasts. There are various types of yeasts: active, dormant and deep-frozen. The fl our is wetted with water together with yeast and butter as well as sugar or egg added depending on the types of bread. They are kneaded to form a dough. By standing at room temperature, yeasts grow and produce 4 carbon dioxide to form air cells in the gluten / starch matrix. After shaping into small pieces of dough, they are placed in oven. The baking process produces additional volume of air cells, starch being hydrated, surface is “roasted” to become brown and then bread is formed. Food Product Development Cake is made of low gluten fl our, carbon dioxide is generated by the action of leavening agent, like soda. When heated, carbon dioxide is produced. Examples are chiffon cake with various fl avours such as vanilla, chocolate, lemon, strawberry etc. Various biscuits including cookies are formed by fl our with various gluten levels, added with various amount of fat and sugar levels, formed by different methods, then resulted with a variety of texture, taste and mouthfeel. (E) Dessert This section describes only the “gel” types like fruit jellies and puddings. Jellies are formed by gelling agent in water, and puddings are gelation in milk. Two types of conventional gelling agents are agar and gelatine, the former is plant hydrocolloid and latter, more popular, is animal protein. Usually 2.5-5.0% gelatin is dissolved in hot water or milk, then is cooled down to form jelly or pudding.