DuPont tackles global food shortage on micro level

Part of DuPont Nutrition & Health’s overall business goal is to play a part in tackling a global food shortage, predicted to hit the population over the coming years. On a smaller level, the research teams in the bakery business are working on contributing to this.

“DuPont have got together in looking at mega trends for the next 40-50 years; looking at what’s happening in the world. There’s going to be major food shortages with predicted famines, major starvation and food will be very, very scarce,”​ said Steven Mallory, application scientist for the bakery division at DuPont Nutrition & Health.

As a result, DuPont is focused on work in its seed division – to develop crops that can grow in desert-like conditions in Africa – and also on bioethanol because the demand for fuel will continue to rise, he told BakeryandSnacks.com.

But from a bakery perspective, the teams are also looking to tackle this trend, albeit on  a more local level, he said.

Improving the quality of flour and dough processing​

“From our ingredients perspective, we’re more focused a little bit on the shorter term… One of the things we’re looking at is trying to use lower quality flour,”​ he said.

Flour quality differs from region to region across the globe, Mallory said. “So by adding in different ingredients that we have to improve the quality you can do a lot to change flour from an ingredient that would have gone into animal feed to feeding humans.”​

Similarly processing aids used in poor quality flour or a weak dough can help reduce waste, he said.

“Let’s say you’re dealing with a weak dough and you’re on a razor's edge, the slightest little thing can upset the apple cart and then you’ve lost three or four batches of dough. Sometimes by adding a dough strengthening emulsifier or an enzyme you can give that dough or flour just enough strength to survive the process,”​ he said.

Enhancing shelf life​

Troy Boutte, group manager for bakery and fats & oils at DuPont Nutrition & Health, said the teams also continuing to work on extending the shelf life of bakery products.

“In the mid-90s, before these anti-staling enzymes came out, the average percentage of stale returns that bakeries had was about 15%... Now, that number has dropped down to as low as 4% or 3%,”​ he said.

However, when it comes to managing shelf life in baked goods, Boutte said it was a juggling act between extending stale-free life and preventing mold growth. “Those have been playing leap frog over the last 10-15 years and it’s a little bit of a slow game. Right now the technology is held up by antimicrobials; better antifungal agents for bread.”​

DuPont’s Natamax B Plus mold inhibitor has started to gain traction, he said.