Bavaria Corporation is the proud recipient of the 2016 Innovation Award presented by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) at the 2016 IFT Food Expo in Chicago, IL. This award is designed to honor outstanding innovation in products, ingredients, applications, instruments, equipment, technology and services.

Bafos™ Veg is one of only three technologies honored with the 2016 Innovation Award; carefully selected from 46 qualified entries by a panel of eight jurors from industry, academia and government with expertise in ingredients, product development, processing and packaging technology and food safety.

Bafos™ Veg captured this year’s Award with its innovative new approach to eliminate chemical nitrates and nitrites in meat products by utilizing naturally occurring nitrates and nitrites in vegetable powders. This unique blend is a clean label solution to obtain the antimicrobial and color retention properties only capable in cured meats like bacon, ham and sausage.

Bafos™ Veg can be used as a direct replacement for celery powder. However, Bafos™ Veg was developed to consistently work at a lower dosage rate while improving color retention without blotting or browning. Unlike celery powder which is labeled as a severe allergen in Europe, Bafos™ Veg contains no known allergens.

By using Bafos™ Veg as a replacement for chemical nitrates and nitrites or celery powder, manufacturers will be able to eliminate the nitrates, nitrites and allergens from the ingredients to target the natural market with a cured-like quality product. Consumers will benefit from natural occurring nitrates and nitrites in meat instead of chemically enhanced meat, as well as an improved quality compared to other products containing celery powder.