Senior vice president of global marketing with USDEC, Vicky Nicholson said the use of permeates has been grew by 34% annually between 2011 and 2014. The average number of products went from 30 new launches per year to 170 per year.

Nicholson said work being done at the Codex Alimentarius Commission (The Codex Alimentarius, or Food Code, was established in 1963 by FAO and WHO to develop harmonised international food standards, which protect consumer health and promote fair practises in the food trade) may create a separate permeate standard. This will allow permeate be categorised as a single product same as protein concentrate 80 which has a code of its own.

Permeate is a by product of whey protein concentrate, cream and cheese consisting of lactose, vitamins and minerals. It has been found to have strong potential as a flavour additive which can be used to replace salt in many food products.

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It is also used in the bakery and confectionery industries to replace more expensive ingredients. The growth in the market for healthier food has created many more uses for this permeate.

Carbery in West Cork has been a pioneer in this area and has been very successful in developing a range of flavours for many years.