Danisco teams up with equipment firm on anti-mould spray delivery system

The supplier said it has been trialling a spray-on delivery system with US based equipment maker Spraying Systems for the past three years both in house and in a commercial bakery to ensure consistent coverage on baked goods of its anti-yeast and mould compound Natamax B.

The supplier said that Natamax B now has self-affirmed GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status for bakery applications, and that its active compound is natamycin, a natural antimycotic polyene macrolide that is produced by fermentation of Streptomyces natalensis ​bacteria.

It has been safely used commercially as an antifungal food preservative, in cheese and beverages, since the 1970s, and there has been no development of resistant strains, said Danisco.

“We are finally at the stage, after long testing, where we can go with a wide release on the complete package of the anti-fungal product targeted at baked goods and an effective spray unit that applies Natamax B, which is used in very low levels, on all sides of a product,” ​said Cathy Dorko, industry manager NAFTA for Danisco's bakery, fats and oils division.

She told BakeryandSnacks.com that manufacturers are not obliged to purchase the Spraying Systems equipment in order to apply the natamycin product on their bakery products but, according to Dorko, due to the challenges involved in providing an even spray of the anti-fungal, Danisco strongly recommends that company’s spraying unit.

“The two companies, experts in different fields, are combining efforts to market the total package, and with a global patent in place on the spray technology we can now encourage use by medium to large bakers,”​ she said.

Dorko said that in order to overcome potential hurdles in investment outlay, Spraying Systems is giving bakers the option to take out a lease-to-purchase option on the particular spray unit.

Bakers can avail of assistance, she added, with set-up, calibration, initial start-up, product and equipment operation training, conveyor design assistance and consulting, mixing tanks and solution prep/delivery consulting as well. Moreover, she said, there is a mobile experimental spray unit and conveyor available for trials.

Danisco said it also consults with bakers in relation to microbiology aspects as well as mould studies and reporting.

Product taste, flavour or colour is not impacted by the use of Natamax B, states the supplier. Furthermore, there have been no reported allergic or sensory reactions to the antimicrobial product which enables bakers, stresses the company, to replace chemical preservatives with a natural alternative.

And Danisco claims use of Natamax B will ensure a reduction of supply chain and distribution costs for bakers.

The company explained that the ingredient is added to water to form a suspension, which is then sprayed onto the surface of bakery products as soon as possible after removal from the oven and any baking pan.

“Its low solubility prevents migration into food. Natamax B is used at a very low level (7 - 20 ppm), so its cost-in-use is comparable to synthetic antimicrobials,” ​said Danisco.​​

And the company maintains that because it is active at low concentrations over a wide pH range (pH 3 - 9), it is also easy to use. The supplier said that the natamycin product can also be used in combination with other in-dough antimicrobials and also allows bakers to use lower levels of yeast.

The countries that allow natamycin application for bakery products are US and China (on moon cakes only) but Danisco said that regulatory approval is currently being sought for its use in Mexico and South America.