Ingredients in Focus: CSM Ingredients innovates SlimBake, a solution for lower fat baked goods

Global food-technology firm CSM Ingredients has developed a new product that can reduce the fat content of baked goods, according to the company.

The new product, known as SlimBake, is an emulsion that combines “functional ingredients and advanced production technologies.”: It can reduce the fat content of popular products by almost a third, the company said. 

SlimBake can be used in both ambient packed products and frozen baked goods, and comes in two varieties: butter-based and vegetable-based. 

By leveraging the ingredient, food manufacturers of croissants, Danish pastries or puff pastries can claim a product has “reduced fat content” on the package, in accordance with EU regulations, without needing to alter their recipes or production processes. It also allows industrial users to keep both the original recipe and the production processes unchanged.

CMS Ingredients also launched “E-free margarine,” an additive-free margarine it says is “ideal for major lamination applications.” Lamination is the process of repeatedly folding and layering butter and dough to create thin layers of a pastry that’s dough separated by fat. E-free products are those without additives designated with E-numbers. 

The E-free margarine product was made possible by innovations at the company’s new facility in Crema, Italy, and it expects to release a second variety soon ideal for “incorporation applications.” 

Finding new ways to create healthier baked goods with a reduced fat content and fewer additives is a challenge, as it’s difficult to improve the nutrition of things like pastries and cakes without altering texture and taste. 

“At CSM Ingredients, we have an entire innovation center in Delmenhorst, Germany, dedicated precisely to the research and development of increasingly innovative and sustainable oils, fats and emulsifiers, in order to meet the needs of our customers and enable consumers to find nutritionally balanced products that can also satisfy their taste buds,” said Christian Sobolta, CSM Group Managing Director, in a statement. “SlimBAKE and our E-free margarines represent the results of these efforts and are the demonstration that it is absolutely possible to reconcile the pleasure of food with a wellness-conscious approach.”