Juice producer recognised for upcycling work

The Upcycled Food Association (UFA) has recognised fruit ingredient and juice company FruitSmart with certification for its work in using fruit by-products.

FruitSmart uses pomace (pulp, skin and seeds) left over after fruits like apples or blueberries have been pressed for their juice. It dries then mills the pomace into a flour-like material that can be used as an ingredient in other products. The ‘flour’ can be used in a number of ways, including as a texturiser or as a way of adding nutritious fibre to products. With its UFA certification mark, consumers are able to tell that FruitSmart produces and uses upcycled food products.

The UFA is an advocacy group that works to reduce waste by encouraging the use of upcycled food products: these are by-products of food manufacturing that are useful but are otherwise sent to landfill. By using upcycled food content, processors can make better use of ingredients while helping to reduce food waste, all the while increasing sustainability.

Upcycled material can be used in various avenues, with breweries using residual materials from the brewing processing as a source of protein, and researchers working to more efficiently process fish to extract more meat from them.

Wayne Lutomski, President of FruitSmart, said: “Upcycled ingredients help overcome food waste by creating value from materials that would otherwise be discarded. It’s emblematic of how FruitSmart is passionate about getting creative with fruit, as well as helping make our customers’ ideas real.

“In addition to its health benefits, fruit can provide exciting texture and mouthfeel, and classic flavours — often with an exotic or intriguing twist. Our goal is to open people’s minds to what’s possible — we want them to say, ‘I didn’t know you could do that with fruit!’”

Read more about the UFA certification online.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Liddy Hansdottir