Soft Drink and Fruit Juice Problems Solved

Philip Ashurst, Robert Hargitt, Fiona Palmer

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9780081018682
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Food Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Soft Drinks and Fruit Juice Problems Solved, Second Edition, follows the innovative question and answer format of the first edition, presenting a quick problem-solving reference. Questions like: Does the use of a preservative in a product mean that it does not need to be pasteurized? How much deviation from ingredient specification is needed to cause a noticeable alteration in product quality? What kinds of organisms will grow in bottled waters? When is it necessary to obtain expert assistance in the event of a contamination incident? are all answered in detail.

The book's new introduction covers basic questions about soft drinks, their ingredients, and packaging. Additional new chapters expand on microbiological problems, shelf life and storage, and fruit juices and nectars, as well as product nutrition and health claims. Final chapters offer soft drink and fruit juice data sources.

Written by authors with extensive industrial experience, the book is an essential reference and problem-solving manual for professionals and trainees in the beverage industry.

• Uses a detailed and clear question and answer format that is ideal for quick reference
• Contains additional, new, up-to-date problems and solutions.
• Contains an expanded introduction and new sections on microbiological problems, shelf life and storage, fruit juices and nectars, product claims, nutrition and health claims, and soft drink and fruit juice data sources
• Presents a broad scope of topics and process solutions from the experts in the beverages industry

Chapter 1

Introductory

Abstract

Soft drinks of various types are described together with an outline of ingredients and processing. Factors determining the selection of packaging are also covered.

Keywords

soft drinks

alcohol by volume

botanical beverage

cola drinks

ready to drink (RTD) products

1.1. What are soft drinks?

The term soft drink is usually taken to mean water based non-alcoholic drinks that combine a balance of sweetness and acidity with a flavour and colour. In many cases these products have flavours characteristic of a fruit juice or, in the case of cola drinks, a combination of spices. The reference to ‘soft’ presumably was intended to originally indicate that the products were not ‘hard’, a term usually indicative of a significant content of alcohol. Soft drinks would thus be generally suitable for consumption by the children.

Alcohol is nevertheless permitted in soft drinks in the United Kingdom at levels below 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) which allows for the fact that ingredients, such as flavourings and extracts often contain alcohol. Drinks such as shandy, which have an alcohol content between 0.5% and 1.2% ABV, do not attract excise duty but may only be sold on licensed premises to persons over 18 years of age.

There are of course many other water-based non-alcoholic drinks, such as tea, coffee as well as milk and dairy products but they are not dealt with by this book. A chapter on water is however included.

In many countries, there is no legal definition of a soft drink although in the United Kingdom, regulations were introduced in 1964 (UK statutory instrument 1964 No 760) to deal with this issue. Those regulations defined soft drinks as: any liquid intended for sale as a drink for human consumption, either without or after dilution and includes:

1. any fruit drink, and any fruit juice squash, crush, or cordial;

2. soda water, Indian or quinine tonic water, and any sweetened artificially carbonated water whether flavoured or unflavoured; and

3. ginger beer and any herbal or botanical beverage.

These regulations stipulated various compositional requirements, such as minimum sugar and fruit contents.

The regulations then went on to list a large number of exclusions including ‘intoxicating liquor as defined in the Licensing Act 1953’.

These regulations not only defined soft drinks but also provided definitions for descriptions of products, which had been widely used. These included squashes, cordials and crushes. Some of these descriptions such as squashes and cordials are still evident in today’s products although with no compositional requirement.

The 1964 UK regulations were repealed in 1995 as newer EU legislation was implemented. The current position requires label declarations to advise the consumer of the product contents and with one or two exceptions, no compositional requirements for soft drinks are now imposed in the United Kingdom. Several EU countries maintain compositional standards for various soft drink products.

1.2. What are the main types of soft drinks?

The soft drinks market is subdivided into two main categories, ready to drink (RTD) products and dilute to taste or concentrated products. The RTD market is then further subdivided into carbonated and non-carbonated or still products.

Dilute to taste products probably occupy a larger part of the United Kingdom and Irish markets than in other European countries. They are typically produced as concentrate some 5–10 times stronger than their RTD counterpart and are very popular for ease of use in families. These products must be formulated to have the ability to remain stable between opening and consumption as they are frequently stored as part-full containers. This can be achieved either by the use of appropriate levels of preservatives or refrigerated storage after opening.

The early distinctions between packaged water, tea, coffee and to a lesser extent, milk and soft drinks have now become blurred as product formulators seek to reach new tastes. As examples, packaged water with added flavours and fruit juices are now widely available as are flavoured teas that cross the boundary between conventional teas and soft drinks. The combination of milk and soft drinks has only been exploited to a limited extent because of the technical difficulties incurred when milk protein is introduced into the acidic environment of soft drinks.

In some countries, whey from cheese making is used very successfully as an ingredient.

1.3. What are the principal ingredients required for soft drinks?

(See Chapter 3 for more details.)

The principal characteristics of most of the soft drinks are, apart from a high proportion of water, a combination of sweetness and acidity coupled with a characteristic flavour. However, flavoured waters are available without sweetness or acidity and are only characterised as soft drinks because the definition of packaged water does not allow such additions.

The sweetness component will either be of carbohydrate origin, which will be principally sucrose or from so-called intense sweeteners which are mainly of artificial origin. Other carbohydrates such as glucose syrups are used in energy or other more specialised products and high fructose glucose syrup (HFGS) is in wide use in countries such as the United States of America.

Because of worldwide concerns of the increasing levels of incidence of obesity and diabetes, there is now considerable pressure from medical authorities and national governments on producers to reduce carbohydrate content in soft drinks. In the United Kingdom, a tax based on the sugar content of a soft drink will shortly be introduced with tax being paid at a higher level for products containing above 8% sugars and a lower threshold between 5% and 7.9%. Most countries now permit a range of intense sweeteners. The earliest used intense sweetener was probably saccharin with a sweetness some 400–500 times greater, weight for weight, than sugar. Saccharin was developed in 1874 and in wide use by the 1880s. It was of particular importance in the United Kingdom during both world wars when the use of sugar for soft drinks manufacture was severely restricted by the government.

Preferred intense sweeteners now include sucralose, aspartame and acesulfame K, all of which have a sweetness profile that is nearer to that of sucrose but without the bitter after taste of saccharin.

The intense sweetener, Stevia, an extract of the leaves of the plant Stevia rebaudiana containing steviol glycosides, is now finding a wide level of acceptability in soft drink use.

The acidic component that is most widely used in soft drinks is provided by citric acid although other fruit acids, such as malic and tartaric acids appear in some products. Lactic acid has more limited use. Phosphoric acid is the preferred acid for use in cola drinks. When products are carbonated, carbon dioxide forms carbonic acid in combination with water and it may be desirable to reduce other acidulents to obtain the required taste balance. Most of the CO₂ used for food is of industrial origin and potentially may contain toxic contaminants. Manufacturers need to ensure its compliance with the appropriate quality standard.

Flavourings and colourings are used in almost all soft drinks but in the United Kingdom and other European countries, these are now increasingly of natural designation. Fruit juices and other extracts of botanical origin are widely used as soft drink ingredients. Ingredients of nutritional value such as vitamins and minerals appear in many products.

1.4. What factors need to be considered if a soft drinks business is started?

Soft drinks appear to relatively simple to manufacture and may present an opportunity to start a small business. At the simplest, what is required would be a large mixing vessel, weighing and measuring equipment, and a simple filling apparatus together with the necessary raw materials. However, most soft drinks are potentially at risk of microbial spoilage and preservation will be essential. This is achieved by the use of permitted preservatives or by processing, such as pasteurisation, high pressure processing (HPP) or pulsed electric frequency (PEF).

The main considerations are to assess the target market for the required ingredients and any nutritional objectives, to identify the packaging and processing required, and to identify the route to market. More information on this appears in Chapter 2. As soft drinks are usually considered as foods, it will also be necessary in most countries to register the business with the appropriate authorities. In the United Kingdom, this will be the local authority’s Environmental Health Department. Care also needs to be taken to ensure the labelling of such products is compliant with current regulations. Assistance on this topic in the United Kingdom can usually be obtained from local authority Trading Standards Departments.

1.5. Processing

1.5.1. What are the typical stages in the manufacture of soft drinks?

More detailed information related to the manufacturing of these products appears in Chapter 4 but the typical sequence of RTD soft drink production is as follows:

1. Weighing and mixing ingredients. This is usually to produce a ‘syrup’ or concentrated version of the product although some manufacturers produce the final product this way. If carbohydrates are used, the syrup will be around 5–6 times the strength of the final product and if artificial sweeteners are employed, 9–10 times concentrated syrups are typical.

2. Processing. The syrup, or final product is typically subjected to heat for a short time (15–20 s at around 85–90°C) and rapidly cooled or subjected to more prolonged heating at a lower temperature.

3. Dilution. The syrup will then be diluted using proportioning equipment to the required final product strength. This will be by the use of either carbonated water, or just water. Carbonation of the whole product may occur as a separate subsequent stage.

4. Filling and capping. In modern equipment, this stage is often carried out at high speed, such as 36,000 or more bottles per hour in an integrated operation which, if plastic bottles such as PET are used, can also incorporate bottle blowing. Much slower equipment is also available.

5. Labelling. This activity is sometimes incorporated within the filler/capper or may be a further stage. Labelling is sometimes effected by the use of pre-printed sleeves rather than paper. The final labelling operation will usually be addition of the necessary coding and ‘best before’ date information.

6. Collation and secondary packaging. Typical packs for collation will be to produce 12, 24 or 27 units for subsequent shrink wrapping and automati...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Introductory
• Chapter 2: Product Development
• Chapter 3: Ingredients in Soft Drinks
• Chapter 4: Manufacturing
• Chapter 5: Quality Issues
• Chapter 6: Microbiological Problems
• Chapter 7: Shelf-Life and Storage Issues
• Chapter 8: Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars
• Chapter 9: Bottled Waters
• Chapter 10: Packaging, Storage and Distribution of Soft Drinks and Fruit Juice
• Chapter 11: Handling Consumer Complaints, Food Incidents and Crisis Management
• Chapter 12: Environmental Issues
• Chapter 13: Regulatory and Statutory Issues
• List of Acronyms
• References and Further Reading
• Index