Confectioners are likely to welcome the innovation, as chocolate has often had to contend with an "unhealthy" image due to its often high saturated fat content, beleived to be one of the main causes of problems such as heart disease and high cholesterol. Denmark-based food firm AarhusKarlshamn told ConfectioneryNews.com that Chocofill, due to be launched at the Food Ingredients Europe (FIE) fair next week, is only 35 to 40 per cent saturated fat, giving any eventual truffle product a lower overall fat content. "Chocofill is the only premium filling fat on the market with this remarkably low content of saturated fatty acids," said company spokesperson Britha Jepsen. The filling is made by refining and deodorising vegetable oil, she added, in order to make the final product stable and firm at a range of temperatures. "A nice texture is maintained even at 20° Celsius (C), the temperature at which truffles are often stored in retail outfits," she said. The company also claims to use trademark fractionation techniques that allow manufacturers to melt, temper and rework the product, just as they would for normal chocolate. Bloom fat, the harmless but unsightly white powdery film that forms on the outside of chocolate, is also kept to a minimum, the company said. AarhusKarlshamn said that it hopes confectioners will welcome the innovation, as it will enable truffle manufacturers to create product ranges that satisfy consumers who are increasingly purchasing food they view as healthy. According to a Datamonitor survey, consumers are now anxious to avoid health problems such as obesity, and so 74 per cent in shoppers consider that saturated fat is the number one product to avoid, before salt and sugar. The survey also revealed that consumer awareness about different types of "good" and "bad" fat is increasing, especially in the US, where there have been considerable efforts to raise awareness about trans and saturated fats. Datamonitor said the discussions about fat will also begin to take a more positive slant, with increasing attention expected to be placed on good fats, in line with the trend towards "positive nutrition".
