Bubble-Containing Foods

The presence of bubbles in a number of food products, such as bread, champagne, ice cream and beer, has dominated our perception of product quality. Novel bubble-containing products occupy a greater proportion of supermarket shelf space. The inclusion of bubbles in foods permits the creation of very novel structures while offering lighter alternatives in terms of calories. Manufacturers generally find that most products manage to gain a positive market image by highlighting bubbles. Consumers also associate such products with health and luxury. It is generally recognised that the mechanisms governing the formation and stability of such structures are very complicated, because the recipes often contain a number of ingredients that undergo very complex interactions during processing as well as storage. At the same time, there is also recognition of the fact that these complex interactions between ingredients have not been adequately researched. A significant body of published information exists on the formation of porous structures in bread and their relation to the processes adopted to mix the dough (Chiotellis and Campbell 2003; Martin et al. 2004). However, such studies in relation to the whole range of other bubble-containing food products such as cakes, creams used in biscuits, ice cream, and so on, are very sketchy. This chapter describes the formation of bubble-containing food structures, particularly focusing on products other than bread, and aims to develop the relationship between process variables and the structure characteristics, and to explore the interplay between structure and mouth-feel.