Measure the texture of snacks

The measurement of texture in snack food products serves as a fundamental tool for systematically evaluating and optimising the quality, sensory attributes, and manufacturing processes of these ubiquitous treats.

Texture analysis provides quantifiable data on attributes such as crunchiness, crispiness, chewiness, and mouthfeel, facilitating a rigorous examination of snack food textural properties.

This analytical approach not only informs the refinement of product formulations and processing methodologies but also plays a pivotal role in ensuring uniformity and consumer satisfaction. Texture is a leading driver for taste perception and a marketable feature, particularly for snack products. Creating an amazing texture in your snack food will provide enormous interest to the consumer but one thing is for sure, if you’ve created a signature texture in your product you’ll want to make sure that it remains consistent.

Texture is a defining factor in the consumer experience of snacks, influencing satisfaction and repeatability of purchase. Here's how a Texture Analyser can be applied:

• Texture profiling: From crispy chips to chewy fruit bars, different snacks possess distinct textural characteristics. The Texture Analyser quantifies these properties, such as crispiness, hardness, or chewiness and creates a signature texture profile. New snack concepts or ingredients can be thoroughly tested for texture, ensuring they meet consumer expectations before market launch.
• Formulation testing: When adding additives to enhance flavour, changing ingredients or their ratios or introducing new ones, it's essential to know how these changes affect the final product's texture. The Texture Analyser aids in perfecting the formulation to achieve the targeted textural profile without compromising the snack’s mouthfeel.
• Effects of processing: Cooking methods, like frying or baking, impact a snack's texture. Texture analysis can optimise these methods for the best textural outcome.
• Moisture retention: For moist snacks or those with fillings, understanding how they maintain moisture over time and its impact on texture.
• Quality assurance and control: Texture consistency is paramount in snack production. Regular analysis ensures each batch aligns with the desired textural standards and is consistent across different production facilities.
• Shelf life assessment: Over time, some snacks may lose their crispiness or become harder. Analysing these changes throughout storage provides insights into product shelf life and storage conditions.
• Packaging interactions: Some packaging, like vacuum-sealing, might impact a snack's texture. Analysing these interactions informs packaging decisions.
• Sensory feedback integration: Merging sensory panel feedback with objective texture data allows for a comprehensive understanding of the product, informing recipe or process tweaks.
• Claims substantiation: If a product is marketed with textural claims, like "extra crunchy" or "soft-baked," the Texture Analyser provides the empirical data to substantiate these assertions.
• Comparative analysis: Manufacturers can objectively compare their snack's texture to competitors', revealing areas for potential differentiation or improvement.

In a nutshell, the role of a Texture Analyser in the snack industry is pivotal. It not only ensures the production of high-quality snacks that consumers love but also assists manufacturers in innovation, ensuring they stay ahead in the competitive market.

Snack foods come in a variety of forms, and their textural attributes play a crucial role in consumer acceptance and preference.

Here are the primary texture properties a Texture Analyser can measure for snack foods:

By determining these properties with a Texture Analyser, manufacturers can optimise formulations, processing, and storage to produce snacks with the desired texture. This also aids in maintaining product consistency, ensuring a repeatable pleasurable eating experience for the consumer.

Whether its providing the solution for the University of Leeds to measure crunchiness, allowing Bahlsen to measure crunchiness of their biscuits or offering a method for Cornell University to file their patent measuring the textural properties of pomace puffs, a Texture Analyser is adaptable and flexible in its application to measure the bespoke texture of your product and then enable its quality to be controlled in your manufacturing to guarantee consistency and customer satisfaction.

With deep expertise in snack product texture analysis, we’re well equipped to support innovation in this sector – just ask our customers.

A wide range of probes and attachments can be integrated with our instruments, allowing testing to be precisely adapted to the material or product under evaluation. Applications include the Triple Ring Cutting System to compare popcorn textural properties, extrusion tests to assess ketchup consistency or a Crisp Fracture Support Rig employed to measure the crunchy/crispy nature of potato chips. 

Over the years, we have collaborated with leading scientists and organisations to design and refine attachments that meet highly specific testing requirements such as the Ice Cream Cone Support Rig, the Pizza Tensile Rig and the Acoustic Envelope Detector for the extra dimension of sound measurement.

The examples provided illustrate a selection of specialised attachments and commonly performed measurements within this application area. This list is not exhaustive; a wide range of additional options are available for the testing of snack products. All instruments in the Texture Analyser range can be used to perform the tests described.

Exponent Connect software includes a comprehensive range of test methods for snack food products, all instantly accessible at the click of a button. We streamline your texture testing process, ensuring faster access to methods and ready-to-use analysis files for your product properties.

The snack industry is continuously evolving, driven by consumer demands, emerging health trends, and innovative technologies. Here are some of the newer ingredient and product ideas in snack product research, development, and production and a typical academic reference to show how the Texture Analyser has already being applied:

With the boundaries of snacking expanding, there's a wide realm of possibilities for new ingredients and innovative products to cater to the evolving needs and tastes of consumers.