Organic Processing Vo1.8 #1 - January/February 2011

great for dairy replacements too. And because chia turns into a gel when exposed to water, it also helps maintain moisture and improve texture in products. Adding quinoa and amaranth grain, flakes or flours also are great ways to enhance the protein and fiber contents of gluten-free breads—one serving of quinoa or amaranth has 8 to 9 grams of protein. Quinoa also contains all the essential amino acids needed for the body to build protein, making it a complete protein.

There are several other ways of im-
proving texture and moisture issues—
the kind of issues that used to have
people likening gluten-free bread to
cardboard. Pascal, who has spent
nearly 10 years developing allergy-
friendly, gluten-free recipes, says
“There are ways to deal with this
issue. I use xantham gum. I also love
using fruit purees and I choose my
gluten-free flours very carefully.”
Gums and thickeners can indeed
be used for a variety of purposes, in-
cluding gelling and thickening, water
retention and texture improvement.
In studies, the use of guar gum results
in a crumb structure with a more
even cell size distribution, while lo-
cust bean gum inclusion increased
bread loaf height. Rice bran extracts
also contain glycolipids, starches, pen-
tosans and proteins that replace many
of the binding and structural func-
tions of gluten—giving gluten-free
products a pleasing mouthfeel, mois-
ture and texture parameters.

For Pascal, extending the shelf life of recipes has been one of her biggest challenges. “Gluten-free, vegan baked goods go stale so quickly,” she says. “Another huge formulating problem that I’m running into is that there is so much variance between gluten-free flours, from one brand to another and sometimes batch to batch. I’m really trying to troubleshoot any potential issues before going into production with a manufacturer.”

Avoiding Contamination

Another challenge is finding ingredients that are truly allergen-free, Robbins says. While some processors may claim to have “ allergen-free” products, often they are still sharing facilities with products that contain allergens which can easily lead to contamination. “Thankfully, over just the past few years, an increasing number of ingredient companies are choosing to manufacture without allergens in their facilities,” she says.

Unfortunately, the definition of “allergen-free” varies among companies, creating confusion for consumers. The Food Allergen Label-

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