An increasing number of people are changing their dietary habits. Issues such as BSE, avian flu, and hog cholera (swine fever) as well as ethics have sensitised consumers.
More and more humans are choosing the foods they eat with greater awareness and seeking to replace animal proteins and fats by vegetable substitutes.
Alternatives to meat consumption are becoming increasingly important in menus and are an important trend today.
In response to these developments, Switzerland-based Fredag AG has now launched a range of vegetarian meat substitutes.
Buhler was chosen to be the reliable partner in the development of the process, the production line for this meat substitute, and ultimately also the recipes for the new products.
The goal was to develop a ‘vegetarian escalope’. This would have to be an escalope that looks and tastes like a traditional one and also has its fibrous texture but is made of vegetable raw materials.
The product requirements were high, since similar products already existed in the marketplace.
But Fredag planned to differentiate itself clearly on the basis of a new quality grade and to cover additional needs.
The new vegetarian products are based on soy and wheat proteins, which are textured by a Buhler extruder.
These raw materials are fed together with water into an extruder.
There, the chemical bonds between the protein molecules are dissolved with the aid of suitable process parameters. The resulting mass is then conveyed toward a die.
The protein molecules recombine as they pass through the die holes, and the protein melt solidifies.
With the proper raw materials and process parameters, the resulting product will have a fibrous texture resembling that of meat.
Bühler AG is based in Uzwil, Switzerland. www.buhlergroup.com
