Fat-based food emulsifiers

Emulsifiers are widely used in foods in order to achieve the texture, taste, appearance and shelf life characteristics desired by today’s consumers. A relatively limited number of fat-based emulsifiers is used alone and in various combinations to provide these characteristics. Bakery products is one of the more important food areas utilizing emulsifiers, and bread is the most important food within this class. The use of dough conditioners and softeners in bread represents one of the largest markets for fat-based emulsifiers. Therefore, the emphasis in this paper is on those fat-based emulsifiers used in the manufacture of bread. To a lesser extent, those emulsifiers used in other bakery products will also be covered.