Kudos Offers SALP Replacer for Baked Goods

In case you missed it, the EU in 2012 announced its intention to lower aluminum exposure in the general population, because some studies link aluminum exposure to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. As a precaution, the EU outlined new conditions for use of aluminum-containing food additives, including restrictions on the use of a leavening agent called sodium aluminum phosphate (SALP).

Responding to the new SALP restriction, which went into effect on February 1 of this year, Kudos Blends Ltd. (Cleobury Mortimer, Worcestershire, UK) is offering a low-aluminum SALP replacer for baked goods manufacturers.

The Kudos SALP replacer, developed with a particular blend of leavening acids, imparts a fraction of the aluminum that exists in SALP, but Kudos managing director Dinnie Jordan says its unique combination of acidulants allows for the same end-product characteristics made possible with SALP. Formulators need only make a slight adjustment in their recipes, says Jordan:

A slight modification will be necessary…SALP has a neutralizing value of 100, whereas Kudos SALP replacer has a neutralizing value of 50. This means that Kudos SALP replacer will replace SALP in a 2:1 ratio.

The Kudos SALP replacer can be used for several types of baked goods, including cakes, scones, hotplace goods, and chemically leavened breads.

An interesting exception to the new SALP restrictions concerns the production of Battenberg cakes. SALP lends to their distinctive pink color, and manufacturers have yet to find a suitable ingredient alternative, so restrictions (at 400 ppm) are not as significant for Battenberg cakes. Aluminum is the basis for many other color lakes used in foods and beverages, and the EU conditions for use limit coloring use so that consumers won’t exceed the tolerably weekly intake of aluminum, set at 1 mg/kg of bodyweight per week.