This project is no longer open for submissions.
We are seeking preservatives for a variety of beverages, and would be interested in new products and materials that have antimicrobial effects and could be easily formulated into a range of different pH based beverage products. We are looking for a stabilizer that results in the protection from microbial spoilage at various stages of the beverage’s life, beginning when it is bottled and extending through its shelf life, beverage opening and consumption. Ideally, the new solution will extend the overall lifetime of the beverage over existing methods and be effective against mould, yeast and bacteria.
BACKGROUND
Consumers are driving innovation in the beverage market and are always looking for new and exciting products with more healthy choices and flavors. No existing preservation methods work across all pH’s and therefore beverage companies are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain sterile products on bottling lines which have multiple changes from product to product. This is particularly true if the producer is working with both dairy and fruit products. While most traditional preservatives have an excellent broad spectrum antimicrobial; producers are looking for alternatives or different combinations and formulations of existing technologies.
CONSTRAINTS
The solution must fit the following constraints:
- It must be safe for consumer and beverage use. Information on the status and the registration of the actives is a necessity (GRAS approved, FDA approval etc).
- It must be colorless, odorless and tasteless at the concentration necessary for it to act as a preservative, but each solution will be assessed on its own merit for each market.
- It must have the ability to act as a preservative against bacteria, yeast, moulds and fungi and be effective at low concentrations (below 1%) as the solution is not to change the nature of the beverage.
- The active must be easily formulated into a range of beverages without affecting the physical properties of the product such as turbidity and viscosity.
- We are also looking for solutions that are patentable (will accept solutions with patent applications in progress and solutions where the chances of getting patents granted are high).
- The product should be reproducible and production should be scaleable.
