What is Emulsifier& What are its Examples in Food?

What is Emulsifier?

As we all know, if you pour water and oil into a container, you will find that they do not mix spontaneously. But with the addition of an emulsifier, the water and the oil will blend well together. Thus, an emulsifier is a substance that helps to mix two substances that would normally separate when combined.

Emulsifiers are a popular food additive that contributes to the mixing of food ingredients that contain immiscible food components. Emulsifiers have both hydrophilic and lipophilic properties. When they are added to an immiscible substance, the emulsifier molecules orient their hydrophilic ends toward the water phase and their lipophilic ends toward the oil phase, allowing the water and oil to blend together better. The result is a stable, homogeneous and smooth emulsion.

Emulsifiers play an instrumental role in food production. During food production, their addition is conducive to optimizing the appearance of the product, improving the texture of the food, and extending its shelf life. You can find emulsifiers in many processed foods, including meats, baked goods, cookies, salad dressings, cream sauces, margarine, chocolate, ice cream, etc.  

Emulsifier and Stabilizer Examples in Food

1. Fermented Food

The production of bread and pastries generally requires fermentation, and the storage time of the food is not long. Adding emulsifiers to the dough can increase the volume of the bread and inhibit the aging of starch, thereby making the crumb structure softer and extending the shelf life of the bread. Emulsifiers can also use their foaming properties to maintain the fluffy appearance of bread and pastries, improve the fermentation capacity of dough, and improve the texture and taste of food. Emulsifiers used in bread are Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Ester of Mono-and Diglycerides (E472e) and Sodium Straroyl Lactylate (SSL), which are often used as dough strengtheners. Mono and diglycerides of fatty acids e471 act as dough softeners.

2. Processed Meats

The use of food emulsifiers is also prevalent in many meat products. Common emulsifiers include soy protein and serum protein. The main components of sausages are meat proteins, fats, and water, which combine to form stable emulsions. The main role of emulsifiers is to emulsify and disperse the oily substances in the meat ingredients and inhibit them from settling and hardening. Meanwhile, emulsifiers can also promote the shape, color, and taste of meat products, making them more stable and more palatable. Additionally, the use of emulsifiers in low-fat meats enables them to be as tasty as full-fat meats. In processed meat, emulsifiers such as mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (E471) and citrate (E472c) are frequently used in the food industry.

3. Chocolate

Some of the candies we often eat every day, including cream candies and chocolate contain a substantial amount of oil. Consequently, when processing candies, adding Distilled Monoglycerides (DMG) emulsifier can emulsify and disperse the oil in the candies, allowing the oil and other substances to form an emulsified system. Besides, the emulsifier can prevent the fat of the candy from separating and control the size and growth rate of the fat crystals. Above all, emulsifiers play an irreplaceable role in stabilizing the shape of chocolate, improving the fineness of chocolate, and enhancing the texture and taste of chocolate.

4. Ice Cream

Adding emulsifiers to ice cream enables the oil molecules in ice cream to be distributed more evenly, which helps to prevent the formation of large ice crystals in ice cream, thus improving its delicate texture and freeze-thaw stability. Additionally, some food emulsifiers can also replace some of the fat in traditional ice cream to reduce calories and boost the development of low-fat ice cream. Common emulsifiers used in ice cream are Glycerol Monostearate GMS(E471) and Polyoxyethylene Sorbitan Monooleate (E433). These emulsifiers are also identical to frozen yogurt, milkshakes, and other frozen desserts.
 

5. Margarine

Margarine generally refers to natural animal butter, but now margarine is also widely used in food processing. Margarine is made by using vegetable oil as the main ingredient together with other ingredients. Emulsifiers are able to emulsify vegetable oils and allow them to form a stable structure. Adding emulsifiers to margarine is a good way to disperse water into the oil and form a stable and uniform emulsion, thus improving the internal organization of the margarine. Vegetable margarine is a versatile product widely used in bakery products, bread fillings, cake decorations, mousse cakes, etc.

Summary

There are many kinds of emulsifiers in food, and the corresponding emulsifiers should be selected according to different needs. The emulsifiers provided by our company Chemsino are not only of various types, but also of guaranteed quality. If you want to know emulsifier price, please feel free to contact us.