IBBENBÜREN, GERMANY — According to Trigea, a Crespel & Dieters Group brand, white pigment titanium dioxide is no longer considered a safe animal feed additive by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). To accommodate this, Trigea offers Trigovit® Starch 1104 ND native small-grain starch, a wheat-based functional ingredient that is “completely harmless to health,” according to the company.

The naturally white starch can be used to brighten pet food formulations. It has a whiteness — or brightness — of 98.17 on a scale of 0 to 100, 0 being black and 100 being white. In pet food applications, this offers a “brightening effect,” and the ingredient can also be used to offset optical highlights in pet treats.

“Demand for a natural substitute for titanium dioxide has increased enormously since the EFSA notification and the ban in the food sector,” said Maximilian Hegge, sales manager at Trigea. “We frequently encounter this topic at trade fairs and customer meetings. With our native wheat starch, we help manufacturers to prepare for potential changes in the law and ensure that they can make their product as visually appealing as before – with a natural, renewable raw material.”

The starch ingredient is produced through physical separation. It can be homogenously distributed in a finished product without sedimenting, Trigea stated. The ingredient is dispersible, free-flowing, neutral in taste and digestible. Additionally, each starch granule is less than 10 μm, so that ten times more particles are included in the same volume as conventional corn or wheat starch.

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