Breakfast cereal industry

The use of cereal-based syrups has increased because they can substitute for sucrose and supply the industry with a wide array of products with different properties in terms of viscosity and sweetness. For example, the U.S. Corn Refiners Association estimated that sales of maize-based syrups increased sixfold from 1970 to 2000 (from 1.8 million to 11 million tons, db). The soft drink industries are the major users, followed by the confectionary, ice cream, baking, preserves, and breakfast cereals industries. 

The breakfast cereal industry relies on the quality control parameters previously discussed for whole grains, dry- and wet-milled products, and wheat quality tests. 

Corn grits Refined particles of the endosperm, free of germ and pericarp, produced after dry milling. Corn grits are usually classified by sizes as U.S. mesh numbers 6, 40, and 60. They are widely used by the brewing, snack, and breakfast cereal industries. 

The bulk of the industrial supply of the calcium salt of (R)-pantothenic acid is used in food and feed enrichment. Food enrichment includes breakfast cereals, beverages, dietetic, and baby foods. Animal feed is fortified with calcium-(R)-pantothenate which functions as a growth factor. 

Murthy, K.V., Srinivasa Rao, RN. and Ramesh, T., Continuous vibro fluid bed roaster for breakfast cereals, Indian Food Industry, 14 (1995) 35-38. 

Although 2-furoic acid (pyromucic acid) was known to Scheele in 1780, furan was obtained only in 1870 by Limpricht. Furfural began to be produced commercially in the 1930s by the Quaker Oats Company and its subsidiary, the Miner Laboratory. It had been observed that oat husks (waste from breakfast cereals) afforded furfural on treatment with acids in about 10% yield, along with non-volatile cattle food. Among the many uses of furfural, one should mention (i) the manufacture of plastics based on the phenol-furfural-formaldehyde reaction, (ii) its use as selective solvent for aromatics in the petrochemical industry and oil refinement, and (iii) the separation of saturated from unsaturated fats (triglycerides) in the refinement of vegetable oils. Furfural can be recovered by steam distillation and recycled. 

Biogenerated aromas for such applications as baked goods, processed meats, fruit based products, beverages, desserts, and breakfast cereals, are examples of the potential market for this technology. The fermentation industry, the forerunner of present day biotechnology, could be the leading edge in this effort. 

At present, over 3000 tons of riboflavin are industrially produced each year. About 70% of this material is used as feed additive in the form of free-flowing, spray-dried granules or microgranules. The remaining 30% are required for the fortification of foods like breakfast cereals, pastas, sauces, processed cheese, fruit drinks, vitamin-enriched milk products, baby formulas, and clinical infusions. 

Plant starch is found in potatoes, maize, rice, wheat and other cereals in abundant quantities, estimated to amount to 10 tons per annum worldwide. Most commercial production is from maize (corn). About two-thirds of this is used in the food industry and most of the remainder by the paper and textile industries. Food applications include flours, breakfast cereals, corn syrups and thickeners for jellies, pie fillings, gravies, salad dressings and so on. Manufactured starches include various modified varieties. 

The types of cereal food products included in this chapter are processed, packaged cereal products and certain bulk products available to consumers from retail sources, for example, granolas, ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, crackers, flours, pastas, bran, chips, snack bars, cookies, and some minimally processed, packaged whole grains (e.g., popcorn and rice). The processed products considered to be cereal foods are generally made up of wheat, maize (corn), oats, rice, rye, and millet however, cereal products also include buckwheat, amaranth, and quinoa, which are handled as cereals by the food industry. 

This chapter reviews the applications of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy in the cereals industry for the analysis of ingredients (especially flour), process intermediates (dough), and final products (bread, biscuits, flour confectionery, pasta, and breakfast cereals). 

Dielectric drying has several uses in the food industry, including drying of breakfast cereal postbake drying... 

A common practice in some countries is the fortification of margarines by ergocalciferol or dehydrocholecalciferol, and milk and breakfast cereals are likewise often fortified. Ergocalciferol is the main form of vitamin D found in the fortified foods and pharmaceutical preparations. It is produced industrially by photoisomerisation of ergosterol. Some of the earher procedures of feed enrichment (e.g. yeast for feed purposes) by ergocalciferol were based on irradiation of materials rich in ergosterol. 

In some countries, white wheat flour, breakfast cereals and rice are fortified with thiamine. For further processing in the pharmaceuticals and food industries, the most commonly used... 

The industry was born at the end of the nineteenth century and developed strongly thereafter, especially in developed countries. The first breakfast industry was established in Battle Creek, Michigan, by the Kellogg brothers. Dr. John H. Kellogg filed a patent for production of flaked cereals in 1894, and soon C.W. Post invented the first prototype of the Grape Nuts that are still manufactured and sold today (Past 2001). As technology improved, the range of breakfast cereals evolved from traditional corn and oat flakes to more sophisticated products that were mainly produced in thermoplastic extruders. 

Since most breakfast cereals are enriched or fortified with selected vitamins and minerals, the determination of these nutrients is of utmost importance for the industry and for labeling purposes. Vitamins are generally determined with HPLC systems, whereas minerals are labeled via atomic absorption or plasma analyses. 

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