Frequently asked questions / FAQ
Questions most frequently asked by our customers are answered below.
1. What does the name UNIFERM mean?
The name is composed of two parts
UNI = Union of several independent yeast production factories
FERM = Fermentation technology which yeast producers have been working with for over 250 years.
2. What do I tell my customers if they asks me about allergens and allergen declaration?
The European union has drawn up a list of potential allergens which may be contained in food products. These must be declared on the packaged product unless they are included in the list of ingredients.
Identification
With packaged products: in the list of ingredients (e.g., soybean oil instead of vegetable oil). In the trade name (e.g., celery cream soup)
These allergens are:
Gluten-containing cereals or gluten-containing cereal products
Crustaceans or crustacean products
Eggs or egg products
Fish or fish products
Peanuts or peanut products
Soybeans or soybean products
Milk and dairy products (including lactose)
Nuts and nut products
Celery and celery products
Mustard and mustard products
Sesame and sesame products
Sulphites at a concentration of more than 10 mg (SO2) / kg or 10 ml (SO2) / l
Lupine and lupine products
Molluscs and mollusc products
The UNIFERM product specifications list these allergens if they are contained in the product.
3. GMO (Genetically engineered raw materials or products)
Does UNIFERM use genetically modified raw materials?
UNIFERM does not use raw materials from genetically modified organisms or products containing genetically modified organisms.
The reliability of this statement is backed both by official certificates from our suppliers and internal random samples and the analysis of these samples by external laboratories. All appropriate raw materials obtained from soy or corn sources are IP grade. Certificates confirming this are available.
4. Nutritionals - What do I tell my customers if they ask me about nutritionals of UNIFERM products or pastries made with UNIFERM products?
UNIFERM specifies the nutritionals of each product. We are also prepared to calculate the nutritional values of customers’ individual recipes.
5. How should I declare my list of ingredients on packaged products?
All UNIFERM product specifications contain the ingredients of the products and their declaration for packaged products. In addition, we will be glad to prepare your individual lists of ingredients, based on your master recipe.
6. Declaration of raw materials
What ingredients should I list on packaged products?
Generally, all ingredients contained in pastries should be listed. In addition, additives which have functional properties in the pastry must also be listed.Besides this, ingredients with allergen potential – contained in the EU list of allergens – must be declared even if these have no functional properties.
7. What can you say about the shelf life of the UNIFERM products?
All our products have a best-before date printed on them. This date is printed in a conspicuous place on the product packaging. Besides this, the best-before date is also part of the batch number which is printed on the consignment note.In view of the fact that most of our products are delivered to the bakers through traders, we are unable to specify a defined MLOR (minimum life on receipt)remaining life. However, our warehouse management system ensures that traders only receive products with sufficient remaining shelf life.
8. What should I do if I have a problem with the application of a UNIFERM product?
If a problem arises in connection with the application of a UNIFERM product, you can do two things: Either call your local trader, or contact UNIFERM directly by calling +49/23 89/ 79 78 -444
9. What should I do in the case of a complaint?
Before our products are shipped, they undergo extensive analytical and application tests by our Quality Assurance. Still, if a complaint is received call your local trader or contact UNIFERM directly by calling +49/23 89/ 79 78 -444.
10. What is the baking loss which I should expect?
Below is a list of average baking loss that can be expected. These can vary depending on the recipe used.
Cookies, approx. 20%
500g bread, no tin, approx. 18%
500g bread in tin, approx. 15%
1000g bread, no tin approx. 15%
1000g 500g bread in tin, approx. 10%
2000g bread, no tin, approx. 10%
Yeast-dough cookies approx. 15%
Yeast-dough currant bread, braided loaves, etc. approx. 12%
Sheet cake approx. 12%
Doughnuts approx. 10%
Sandcake approx. 5%
Biscuit, black and white cookies approx. 8%
Cream puffs approx. 30%
Other percentage loss figures can be the result of differing recipes.
11. Which bread can I recommend to diabetics?
Basically, all bread can be eaten by diabetics because it does not contain sugar but mainly starch and fiber.Diabetics should look at the number of bread (carbohydrate) units which they can eat daily. The bread units can be obtained directly from the carbohydrates.1 bread unit (BU) is equal to 12 g carbohydrates.Diabetics should preferably consume wholemeal bread, which contains less carbohydrates than other bread.
12. How long does fresh bread keep?Under what conditions will bread stay fresh longer?
The durability of bread depends on the bread type and the storage conditions.
Bread with a high content of rye, some wholemeal bread and bread made with sourdough keeps fresh longer than bread rich in wheat.
Bread boxes as well as clay or earthenware pots are very good places to keep bread fresh long. Air should circulate in containers with bread. This means the containers should not be airtight.
Bread should be stored at room temperature. When stored in the refrigerator, bread loses moisture and becomes dry and stale.
The average durability of different types of bread is listed below (good storage assumed):
- Wheat bread up to 2 days
- Multi-grain wheat bread 2 to 4 days
- Multi-grain rye bread 3 to 3 days
- Rye bread 4 to 6 days
- Whole meal bread 7 to 9 days
13. Can I freeze yeast?
You can freeze baker’s yeast but the yeast will have a different consistency when thawed. The yeast is softer. Yeast once thawed should be consumed quickly.
14. How should I store yeast?
Yeast should always be stored in a cool and dry place at temperatures between +4 and +6°C.
15. I have a gluten allergy, can I use UNIFERM Aktiva yeast?
Yes, all UNIFERM baker’s yeasts are free of gluten.
16. When was the effect of yeast discovered?
Brewer’s yeast was used for brewing beer long before baker’s yeast was known. Baking bread with yeast is an invention made in Egypt about 3000 years ago. The foam which forms when beer is top fermented was filtered through a piece of cloth to obtain the yeast, and this was added to the dough. This way of baking bread spread throughout the Roman Empire and changed little until the middle of the 18th century. At that time, beer began to be bottom-fermented, and the yeast obtained from this beer could not be used for baking. This was the advent of yeast factories, such as R. Moormann in Werne in 1737, one of the founders of UNIFERM.
17. What are the constituents of yeast?
Baker’s yeast consists of living yeast cells. 1 gram of yeast contains 10 billion cells. The Latin name of baker’s years is Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (saccharose = sugar; mycel = fungus; cerevisiae = of beer). Translated literally, baker’s yeast is the sugar fungus of beer, and so it is a living organism.
18. What is the difference between chemical raising agents such as baking powder, and biological ones, such as baker’s yeast?
Firstly you should know that baker’s yeast is a living organism. Like all living organisms, the yeast has a metabolism which supplies the cells with energy for growth and multiplication. A kind of waste product from these processes is carbon dioxide and alcohol. The carbon dioxide so formed is the gas which causes the dough to rise and the alcohol adds to taste and odor of bakery products. Of course, almost all the alcohol evaporates during baking, odor and taste remain. Baking powder, on the other hand, triggers a chemical reaction upon contact with water. This also produces carbon dioxide and the dough rises. However baking powder does not produce the typical delicious taste of yeast dough which you know from bread, rolls, pizza dough and many cookies and pastries.
19. What is the action of emulsifiers?
Emulsifiers are fat-like substances which make it possible to mix two liquids which are not dissolvable in each other, e.g., fat and water. Emulsifiers have a lipophilic and a hydrophilic pole. The lipophilic part bonds with the fat and the hydrophilic part bonds with the water.
20. What is an enzyme?
An enzyme is a protein-containing compound. Enzymes control all life processes. They act like tools and build or decompose substances.
21. What is the purpose of enzymes in bread and roll dough?
Enzymes perform important functions in pastries and cookies. Their action is specific, which means that each enzyme can convert only a certain substance. On the one hand, they decompose starch to simple sugar (glucose), which can be digested by yeast. In this process, the yeast produces alcohol and carbon dioxide, which makes the pastry fluffy and has a positive effect on aroma. On the other hand, they also decompose proteins, e.g., gluten in flour. The partial decomposition of gluten makes the dough easier to shape.
22. What are flour improvers made of?
Flour improvers consist of foodstuff with only a few additives.
23. What is carob kernel flour?
Carob kernel flour is contained in some flour improvers. It is obtained from the kernels of the carob tree and has properties similar to those of starch and malt together. Used in pastry it gives a rustic, sweet-salty taste.
24. Flour type 550 – What does it mean?
It says something about the minerals contained in the flour. Specifically, about 550 g of minerals are contained in 100 kg of flour type 550.