Rice Flour in Food Manufacturing

For anyone with celiac disease or an aversion to gluten, finding a good substitute for wheat flour is difficult. Rice flour’s promise of eased digestion is bringing it to the forefront for food manufacturers, and your food ingredient supplier, Bell Chem, presents the following examples of how rice flour is taking the cooking and baking worlds by storm. 

Cereal

Breakfast cereals have long relied on rice flour as a prime ingredient since its tremendous amount of amylose: the higher the amylose content, the more starch is contained in the rice flour and the stiffer the gel can be produced. This gel gives the crisp crunch to cereals since rice flour is not as prone to absorb water…or milk. As cereals containing rice flour cool after baking, the porous texture has the ability to be more tightly regulated which also leads to a crisper cereal.

Snack Foods

When applied to the outer coating of snack foods, rice flour has two tasks: it aids in the coating’s adhesion to the snack and gives a satisfying crunch to the snack’s exterior. Artisan loaves also use this feature when dusting the exterior of the loaves before baking.

Food in Restaurants

Restaurants have learned to rely more heavily on rice flour for frying since it produces a crisper, lighter texture to foods. Even the ubiquitous French fry is crunchier when rice flour coats the fries prior to entering the fryer. In sauces and sauce mixes, rice flour plumps up the volume, giving a more pleasant mouthfeel. 

Baby Foods

Rice flour is a key ingredient in many baby foods, and is often one of the first foods introduced to infants in the form of rice cereal. It is easily digestible and contributes to few allergic reactions. Studies have proven the amino acid profile of rice flour is quite similar to the amino acid profile of breast milk. Additionally, rice flour contains a high starch content, lipids (including unsaturated fatty acids), and necessary fiber. 

Food for the Elderly

On the other side of the human lifespan, rice flour is being touted as an impressive contender for nutritional food of the year for our aging population. Compared to other cereal grains, rice flour is more nutritious, and it contains more protein than yogurt. 

Bell Chem is a food ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including rice flour. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.