For the first time, the high-pressure jet technology has processed fat-free chocolate milk that shows improved viscosity, stabilizing cocoa particles and removing the addition of a controversial emulsifier.

New technology could stop the use of carrageenan in chocolate milk, a team of Penn State researchers has found. This widely used food additive helps to prevent cocoa from settling in the chocolate milk on store shelves even after days of storage, while using that is not desired by many consumers, especially in organic chocolate milk.

According to team leader Federico Hart, a professor of food science at Penn State University, some scientists believe that the additive (a compound extracted from red seaweed) can have detrimental effects on the digestive system such as bloating and irritable bowel disease, and can cause inflammation as well. As a result, in the European Union, the additive is banned in infant formula.

He said: “This research is not about counteracting carrageenan, but about consumers demanding clean food labels and products containing recognizable ingredients”. “And what consumers do not want in chocolate milk formulation is carrageenan for sure. We know that the USDA prohibits the use of carrageenan in organic chocolate milk. "It is possible to produce chocolate milk without the use of carrageenan additives, the results demonstrated."

Researchers, in this study, heat-treated skim milk chocolate containing skim milk, sugar, and cocoa powder, following the procedure, the chocolate milk was processed from 125 to 500 MPa by means of high-pressure jet technology. Then, researchers compared flow properties, viscosity, and stability of chocolate milk treated with high-pressure jets with that of chocolate milk not undergoing high-pressure jet processing, prepared both with and without adding carrageenan.

As expected, the cocoa powder in carrageenan-free chocolate milk samples underwent immediate phase separation, whereas cocoa particles of chocolate milk containing carrageenan were stable for 14 days and did not drop out of suspension. However, the more jet processing pressure increase, the more increase the stability, researchers observed, moreover, maximum stability was reached when chocolate milk was processed at 500 MPa.

Reference:
https://www.thedairysite.com/articles/4557/keeping-chocolate-milk-smooth-stable-without-carrageenan/