‘Astonishing’ AlgaVia whole algal flour: Ice cream with half the fat that’s just as creamy, with a clean label
AlgaVia whole algal flour - which is 52% fat, 19% fiber (50:50 soluble/insoluble), 6% protein, 2% moisture, 3% ash/micronutrients, 1% simple sugar, and 17% other carbohydrates - is a paler yellow color than the protein, and has a silky, creamy mouth-feel.
It can be used to reduce or replace dairy fats, vegetable oils and egg yolks in everything from ice cream to cookies, cakes, dressings, sauces, chocolate milk and Alfredo pasta sauce, helping firms significantly reduce saturated fat, total fat, calories and cholesterol, and create products that are healthier, but taste more indulgent, says Aaron.
The company has developed scores of prototypes, but one of the most impressive is a vanilla frozen dessert with 3% whole algal flour and two thirds less cream, which has 63% less saturated fat and 50% less total fat but retains the same creamy mouth-feel without the addition of gums and starches, in part owing to its ability to inhibit the growth of ice crystals.
However, many visitors have been equally blown away by chocolate milk prototypes in which 2% milk is replaced by skim milk and whole algal flour is added at 1.5%, enabling a 66% reduction in saturated fat and a 40% reduction in total fat in a product that again, tastes equally, if not more, creamy and indulgent.
Customer priorities vary, adds Brooks, with some keen to remove dairy or eggs from formulations because they want to avoid allergens or make vegan claims; others keen to reduce calories, fat and saturated fat; and others motivated by potential cost savings as cream is expensive, and the price of eggs can be volatile.
But what excites customers the most is “the opportunity to deliver healthy indulgence,” says Aaron.