Dairy Flavors

Used alone, in combination with other flavors, or as subliminal background notes, Dairy Flavors have more important and broader uses than most people think. And, with plant-based and vegan products growing in popularity, you will be happy to know that, with the exception of WONF Dairy Flavors, most Natural or N&A Dairy Flavors are vegan. So, when and how can you use dairy flavor notes to improve your beverage, confection, dietary supplement, etc.? For answers to this and other questions, read on…

What Do We Mean by “Dairy Flavors”?

Before delving into the various uses of dairy flavors, let us clearly define what we mean by Dairy Flavors. There are the obvious ones like butter, cream, cheese, and milk; less common flavors like egg, custard, pudding, ice cream, and yogurt; derivatives thereof like browned butter, sauteed butter, tres leches, dulce de leche, and whipped cream; and finally combination flavors like strawberries & cream, butter pecan, creamy caramel, butter rum, etc.

Using Dairy Flavors as the Primary Flavor Note

Milk, Cream, and Butter are among the world’s oldest and most satisfying foods and flavors. The fatty mouthfeel and subtly flavor of basic dairy flavors are instantly recognized and appreciated by almost everyone on the planet. A number of products taste great with the simple addition of milk, cream or butter flavors (and maybe a dash of salt): for instance, smoothies, bread, potatoes, corn, popcorn, most vegetables, and cooking oils. abelei’s dairy flavor library contains over a thousand liquid and powder variations of milk, cream and butter flavors. A short summary includes:

• crème fraiche
• condensed milk
• heavy cream
• malted milk
• Boston cream
• oat milk (wink-wink)
• Bavarian cream
• yogurt
• ice cream
• buttermilk
• sweet cream
• butter cream
• cream cheese
• whipped cream
• cultured butter
• custard
• sauteed butter
• crème brulee
• browned butter
• diacetyl-free dairy flavors

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*FLAVORIST SIDENOTE ON DIACETYL:

Generally Regarded As Safe for Human Consumption: The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) publishes and maintains a list of ingredients that are permissible in foods and beverages consumed by humans. It is called the GRAS list, which stands for Generally Regarded As Safe. Diacetyl is a GRAS-listed food additive. Though some studies claim that it can be dangerous for consumption at normal and reasonable use levels, those assertions are not nearly conclusive enough for governing authorities to ban it from use. Though by no means the sole or “key” ingredient in great dairy flavors, when used at proper levels diacetyl is a great ingredient in the creation of tasty and cost-effective flavors. That said, abelei offers many diacetyl-free versions of milk, cream, butter, cheese, and other flavors.

The Real Concern: Safely handling and using diacetyl or products that contain it is the real concern. Like other flavoring ingredients, diacetyl can be dangerous to people who handle and use it in its pure form or even when it’s a small part of a larger product. The safe use of diacetyl is dependent on basically two things:

1. The suppliers of diacetyl and flavors that use it must clearly communicate where and how to safely handle and use it, as should be noted on a product's Safety Data Sheet (SDS); and
2. People who handle and use diacetyl need to follow those guidelines set forth in the SDS. These guidelines should include at a minimum the wearing of gloves extending to the elbow and clothing that covers most skin; the wearing of good respiratory masks; handling and using diacetyl, or products containing it, in well-ventilated rooms with good airflow; refraining from smoking and eliminating any flames or sparks around diacetyl of products containing it.

When safely handled, diacetyl is deliciously and cost-effectively useful to food and beverage products.

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Dairy Flavors used as Secondary or Combination Notes

Perhaps an even more frequent use of Dairy flavors is as a side note or in combination with other popular flavors. In many cases, one of the objectives of a flavor system is to provide a pleasant balance that cleans up nicely or doesn’t satiate the palate. Achieving that leads to greater consumption of the product – opening a second can of beer or a third piece of candy. Depending on the profile of the butter, cheese, or milk note, dairy flavors can impart a bit of sweet, savory, or acidic balance to the featured flavor. Think of Butter-Pecan, Coconut-Cream, Buttered Garlic, or Orange Creamsicle and you should understand what I mean. Of course, the list of potential dairy+ flavor combinations is quite extensive.

Using Dairy Flavors as Subliminal Background Notes

One of the most interesting uses of Dairy flavors or nuances goes unnoticed by most people, including product developers. Flavorists sometimes build dairy flavor nuances into Strawberry, Peach, Vanilla, Chocolate, and other flavors. This is done because some naturally grown foods exhibit such nuances, or because the measured use of an appropriate dairy note rounds out the profile or makes it more appetizing or distinctive. Making your Strawberry or Lime flavored hard seltzer a bit different from the crowd can make your product more desirable and memorable, and that’s a good thing – right?

I hope this brief discussion of Dairy Flavors and their many uses has been helpful to your product development process. If you would like to go deeper on the topic, let me know and we can arrange a conversation with abelei’s trained flavor industry professionals. Our Chief Flavorists is affectionately referred to as the Butter Queen, for good reasons.

On the other hand, if your need is simply for more printed information, lists of dairy-based flavor brainstorming ideas, or free dairy flavor samples, you can make your requests to me by email at tgooding@abelei.com, or use the buttons below to Request Samples or Schedule a Meeting.

With Flavorful Regards,

Troy Gooding

P.S. for 20+ other blogs on other flavors and flavor topics, go to abelei.com/blog. Happy scrolling.