169 Coating Snack Foods

Sheryl Barringer
Department of Food Science and Technology, The Ohio State University

CONTENTS

I. The Snack Food Industry..................................................................................................................................169-1

II. Adhesion of the Seasoning ..............................................................................................................................169-1
III. Coating Application Methods ..........................................................................................................................169-2
IV. Powder Coating ................................................................................................................................................169-4
V. Liquid Coating ..................................................................................................................................................169-4
VI. Electrostatic Coating ........................................................................................................................................169-6
VII. Salt ....................................................................................................................................................................169-6
VIII. Other Flavors ....................................................................................................................................................169-8
IX. Powder Properties ............................................................................................................................................169-8
References ....................................................................................................................................................................169-8

I. THE SNACK FOOD INDUSTRY
The snack food industry includes everything from chips to
confections, from salty to sweet. In the United States,
sales of savory snack foods reached $21.8 billion in 2001,
according to the Snack Food Association’s State of the
Industry report. If cookies, crackers and snack bars are
included, sales top $34 billion. Potato chips, America’s
favorite salty snack, accounted for $6 billion of those
sales. Overall, the snack market ranks third in total dollar
sales in supermarkets, which comes to around 22 pounds
per person, per year. Snack foods are sold everywhere
from retailers to prisons. They’re eaten at every mealtime,
and in between, from breakfast pretzels to midnight chips,
and they’re popular in every demographic age group from
the cradle to the grave (1).
Much of the success of snack foods is due to the coat-
ings that are applied. Coatings are added to a variety of
foods because they add novelty, give an attractive appear-
ance, define the product shape, improve taste, increase shelf
life, protect ingredients, prevent migration of core con-
stituents, create texture, or maintain structural integrity.
Coatings are especially important in the snack food industry
where the snack base (which frequently consists of items
such as corn chips, popcorn, and extruded corn starch) often
has an unattractive appearance and tastes bland, mealy,
sticky, dusty or dry. The secret to the popularity of these
snacks is coatings which give an appealing color and flavor.
For most snacks, it is the way they are coated that pro-
duces their pleasant mouth sensations and taste profile (2).
The majority of flavored snack products are flavored
topically, that is, the seasoning is applied onto the surface
of the product. Some flavorings are incorporated into the
main body of the snack, but the high temperatures
involved in baking, frying or extruding drive out most of
the volatile flavor compounds, making it necessary to
apply the bulk of the flavors to the surface of the product.
II. ADHESION OF THE SEASONING
Since most seasonings are applied on the surface of the
product, it is critical that the seasoning adhere to the sur-
face for the entire shelf life of the snack. For fried snacks,
seasonings are typically applied as a powder. The snack
goes straight from the fryer to the coating line so that the
product is still hot and the surface of the snack is still wet
with oil when the seasoning is applied. Thus, no addi-
tional tack agent is required. The temperature of the snack
has only a small effect on the adherence of the seasoning.
Comparing potato chips at 300 and 100°F, the adherence
decreased from 81 to 68% (3).
Alternatively, oil can be applied directly as a tack
agent (Figure 169.1). The dry product is sprayed with oil,
then seasoning is applied and adheres to the oil. Other
tack agents include water, sugar water and hydrocolloids.
For these solutions, a final drying step is required, which
may be undesirable with dry snack foods because of the
increased expense from the additional processing step.
Some products, such as fried corn chips, absorb most of
the surface oil after frying, so they require a secondary spray

169-1

© 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

169-2 Handbook of Food Science, Technology, and Engineering, Volume 4
FIGURE 169.1 Application of liquids onto the surface of foods.
(Photo courtesy of Spraying Systems Co.)
of oil after the powder is applied, to hold the seasoning to
the surface. A top coating of oil is also added to low or no
fat snacks, to add palatability. Without the surface oil, these
products are unpleasantly dry in the mouth.
III. COATING APPLICATION METHODS
Coatings can be applied to snacks on a conveyor belt or
inside a tumble drum, in coating pans or by enrobing.
Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages,
and produces different coating characteristics.
In a conveyor belt system, the seasoning is dispensed
over the belt, so that only one side of the snack is coated,
unless there is a device to flip the pieces over. In some foods,
such as potato chips, the chips are layered two or three lay-
ers deep, so that more seasoning lands on the top layers. One
study found that adherence dropped from 60% on the top
layer to 30% on the middle layer and 10% on the bottom
layer (3). Thus, a conveyor belt system may not produce
snacks that are as evenly coated as other methods, but
requires much less space. In some factories there is not
enough ceiling height to allow for tumble drums to be
installed, and so conveyor belts are used instead. In addition,
some companies use conveyor belts because they want to
apply seasoning to only one side of the snack, such as for
crackers. If the snacks are only one layer deep and one-sided
coating is desired, this method can give very even coating.
However, more waste is typically produced because the food
© 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
FIGURE 169.2 Over the belt seasoner. (Photo courtesy of
FMC Food Technologies/Allen Systems PPM.)
does not cover the entire surface of the belt, unless a waste
recovery system is used. An example of a seasoner that can
be placed over a conveyor belt is shown in Figure 169.2.
Many foods are coated in a tumble drum because the
tumbling action mixes the product as the seasoning is being
applied, producing even coating on both sides. Tumble
drums are horizontal cylinders with one end raised so that
product flows from one end to the other. Flights are set
inside the drum which lift the product, causing the product
layers to be rearranged as they move down the drum. As the
layers of product slide over each other there is some trans-
fer of seasoning, producing more even distribution of pow-
der. Spray nozzles and dispensing tubes can be installed
inside the drum, so that the snack may be sprayed with oil
in one section, then coated with powder in the next. Popcorn
being salted in a tumble drum is shown in Figure 169.3.
Another method is coating pans, which are a slow,
batch process, but have become highly automated. The pan-
ning process consists of building up successive layers of
coating on a core material. The core is commonly a nut,
dried fruit or candy, and the layers of coating are most com-
monly sugar or chocolate. The product is tumbled in a
smooth pan which comes in different shapes. The round, or
apple shape is the least effective shape for coating because
it doesn’t move the product from the front to the back of the
bowl. The doughnut shape is for coating nuts with sugar
(Figure 169.4, left). The pear shaped bowls move product
around the most effectively and are the work horse of the
coating industry (Figure 169.4, right). Coating is sprayed
Coating Snack Foods
FIGURE 169.3 Popcorn being coated with salt in a tumble drum.
FIGURE 169.4 Donut shaped (left) and pear shaped (right) coating pans. (Photo courtesy of Royce Metal Products Limited, Toronto
Canada.)
onto the core material then dried with forced air, and the
process repeated until the desired number of layers has been
built up. This is popular for approximately round, evenly
coated snacks, such as yogurt covered peanuts. These prod-
ucts have smooth surfaces caused by the polishing action of
the pan. If a rough surface is required, this can be produced
by spraying on maltodextrin to produce a bumpy surface.
© 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
169-3
Enrobers work by dipping, pouring or spraying a liquid
coating onto a core material (Figure 169.5). Products that
are dipped may be individually dipped, such as caramel
apples, or carried between two belts to keep the product
submerged as it is carried through the coating. Other prod-
ucts are coated by passing underneath a curtain of molten
coating, especially for chocolate. With a curtain, a pan
169-4 Handbook of Food Science, Technology, and Engineering, Volume 4
FIGURE 169.5 An enrober. (Photo courtesy of Macintyre Chocolate Systems/Ladco.)
beneath the curtain catches the excess coating and recircu-
lates it to the top. Air knives are used to remove excess coat-
ing and control the thickness of the coating. This is followed
by a shaker to remove further coating. Disks, wires or
rollers are used to apply a final decoration on the top of the
product (Figure 169.6). A pre-bottomer may be used with a
curtain system, especially for chocolate coatings. In a pre-
bottomer, the core material is passed through the coating on
a conveyor belt, then passed over a cooling plate to set the
coating, before proceeding through the curtain.
A subset of enrobing is battering. Batters are pro-
duced from flour, starch, sugar, fat and water, with some
flavorings added in, though the majority of the flavor is
usually applied as an oil slurry onto the outside of the bat-
ter. If a smooth surface on the batter is desired, the prod-
uct is tumbled in a coating drum with smooth walls to
produce the desired surface smoothness (2).
An even smoother coating can be produced by spray-
ing on a hydrocolloid solution. Gum arabic is common, as
well as modified starch. Once dried, the coating has a
glossy, crunchy surface. The solution itself has a bland or
starchy flavor, so flavorings are sometimes added into the
coating solution to produce a more desirable flavor.
IV. POWDER COATING
Powdered seasonings can be dispensed from several dif-
ferent types of distributors. Powdered seasoning can be
applied by gravity feed out of a tube, pneumatically con-
veyed by forced air or centrifugally applied by spinning
cones or disks. Many systems are gravity fed due to the
© 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
simplicity of the design. In a seasoning tube, the season-
ing is conveyed down the tube along the flights of a rotat-
ing screw (Figure 169.7). Seasoning may be dispensed
only out of the end of the seasoning tube, or the tube may
have small openings along its length, allowing seasoning
to fall out over the whole length of the tube. The curtain
of seasoning produced by the powder falling out of holes
along the length of the tube can be seen in Figure 169.3.
Another gravity fed device is a roll salter, which employs
a slotted roller to dispense salt or seasoning over unsea-
soned snacks on a conveyor. Systems using air currents or
centrifugal force to dispense the powder are especially
useful for cohesive powders that tend to clump and pro-
duce erratic feed rates in gravity fed systems.
Snack manufacturers put 30–50% more seasoning
than actually needed onto a product because of the
expected waste (4). Also, to produce more even coating,
flavorings are often diluted with a bulking agent so that
excess powder can be added to the coating system (5).
During processing, the extra coating falls off and leaves
the food with a more uniform coating than would be pos-
sible if only the desired amount was applied to the food
initially. A recycling system is installed under some coat-
ing systems to capture the powder that falls off, remove
the fines and clumps and reuse the rest of the seasoning.
V. LIQUID COATING
Sometimes oil or other liquid coatings are applied to the
surface of a product (Figure 169.8). Oil-soluble flavors
and colors may be dissolved in oil and applied directly to
Coating Snack Foods 169-5

FIGURE 169.6 Adding the final decoration. (Photo courtesy of APV Baker.)

FIGURE 169.7 A screw-type seasoning dispenser. (Photo

courtesy of Spray Dynamics, Inc.)

the surface of the product. Sugar solutions are also com-

monly sprayed onto the surface, especially for breakfast
cereals. When applying sugar, solutions of 80% sugar are
often made so that less water needs to be removed from
the final product. The solution needs to be kept heated to
keep the sugar in solution since it is above the saturation
point at room temperature. For snacks that are not fried or
have a dry surface, an oil slurry can be used to apply sea-
sonings. The powder is suspended in oil in a ratio of 80:20,
FIGURE 169.8 Spraying of oil onto the surface of bread.
(Photo courtesy of Spraying Systems Co.)
oil to powder (2). The slurry is sprayed onto the product,
applying the seasoning and tack agent at the same time.
The biggest challenge with liquid application is to
produce an even spray pattern across the surface of the

© 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

169-6 Handbook of Food Science, Technology, and Engineering, Volume 4
conveyor belt or within a tumble drum. Nozzles have been
designed to produce circular, donut, fan and other spray
patterns in an attempt to produce more uniform applica-
tion. In comparison to powder application, liquid
application is usually very even and the amount of liquid
delivered is very reproducible.
VI. ELECTROSTATIC COATING
The basis of electrostatic coating is that by charging the sea-
soning powder as it is dispensed, it is attracted to the food
product, which is grounded through contact with the con-
veyor belt or tumble drum underneath it. The charged parti-
cles tend to separate and distribute themselves evenly as
they coat the food item because of repulsion between
the particles. Electrostatic attraction has been claimed to
produce a more homogeneous coating even on difficult
shapes, reduce seasoning fall off and make it possible to
lower the oil content by up to 20% because of improved
adherence (6). The charged powder coats not only the sur-
face of the work piece facing the coating source, but also the
more difficult, hidden regions, due to the wrap around effect
of the space-charged field (7). The attraction of the charged
coating particles towards a ground also reduces dust that
would otherwise be produced (8). The use of electrostatics
has been shown to increase transfer efficiency an average of
68% and decrease dust 65% (9). A labeled example of an
electrostatic system is shown in Figure 169.9.
A comparison of an electrostatic salter with a mechan-
ical salter found that the electrostatic salter maintains uni-
form spacing of particles during dispensing by inducing a
negative static charge on their surfaces, causing the parti-
cles to mutually repel each other and producing a more
even distribution of salt (10). Other foods that are electro-
statically coated include seasoning corn and tortilla chips
(4), putting salt onto crackers and pretzels (11), and flavors
FIGURE 169.9 Electrostatic coating of tortilla chips. (Photo courtesy of Terronics Development Corp.)
© 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
onto confections (12). Liquid smoke applied to meat elec-
trostatically improves flavor uniformity and decreases
waste (13). The bactericide added to control pathogens on
the meat surface can be reduced by as much as 90% using
electrostatic coating because electrostatics improves coat-
ing evenness and eliminates overspray (14).
In the flavor industry, some flavor houses per-
ceive electrostatic application as a reduction in revenue,
however some producers have experienced an increase in
market share and thus require more flavor to meet the
demand (15).
VII. SALT
The most common snack food seasoning is salt. Typically,
salt is the first flavor variety sold and if the product is
successful, line extensions are developed using other sea-
sonings. But even with other seasonings, salt is added
to accentuate the flavor. The Snack Food Association
recommends a salt level of 1.75% plus or minus 0.25% for
salted potato chips. Between 1.5% and 1.7%, the saltiness
curve is ascending, so small differences in concentration
can make a larger difference in saltiness (16). There is a
plateau region between 1.7% and 2.5% where additional
salt adds very little to the intensity of taste.
Most salt in the food industry is produced by thermal
evaporation of artificial salt brines. Salt is available in dif-
ferent shapes. Purified brine is evaporated in a vacuum pan
to produce a concentric or cubic form of crystalline salt,
which is then screened into different size fractions (Figure
169.10, top). A second salt shape is dendritic salt.
Dendritic salt is a porous variation of the cubic crystal. Its
crystal formation is interrupted by sodium ferrocyanide,
also known as yellow prussiate of soda (YPS). Low levels
of YPS added to the brine prevent normal crystallization.
The crystals form as aggregates of attached cubes,
Coating Snack Foods
FIGURE 169.10 Cube (top), dendritic (middle) and grainer
(bottom) salt. (Photo courtesy of Morton Salt Co.)
providing a porous structure with large surface area and
good adherence (Figure 169.10, middle). A third type of
salt is produced by evaporating salt in the grainer, or mod-
ified Alberger process (16,17). Due to evaporation at the
surface of the brine, the uppermost layer of the brine
becomes saturated before the lower, causing the crystal
nuclei to be produced entirely at the surface. The crystals
are held there by surface tension but, being heavier than the
brine, are partially immersed into it. Because crystallization
proceeds at the surface, the crystals grow laterally, causing
them to sink more deeply. The result is a hollow quadrilat-
eral pyramid, floating inverted, with thin sides and a rela-
tively heavy bottom point (Figure 169.10, bottom).
Salt is also available in a range of sizes. Size can be
determined by laser diffraction, but it is most commonly
sold based on sieve size. Generally, the percent retained in
each sieve of a series of sieves is reported, though in some
cases a single sieve size is reported. When a single sieve size
© 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
169-7
is reported, it is the sieve that stops at least 50% of the salt.
The sieve size is the number of wires per square inch, thus
the larger the sieve size, the smaller the salt. Salt is available
from coarse or pretzel salt at a 20 sieve size, down to extra
fine with a 325 sieve. Flour salt, originally developed to
mirror the size of wheat flour, is about 70 mesh. The size is
adjusted to match the size of the powder it is blended with.
The size can be reduced by grinding rolls or screening out
the smallest size fractions. If the salt is formed with grind-
ing rolls, it no longer has a regular form (18).
The size of the salt affects a number of factors. The
taste perception of salt is affected by the size of the salt
crystals. Small salts dissolve quickly because they have a
large surface area to weight ratio, creating an intense salty
sensation, but then disappear quickly. Larger salt particles
provide a longer lasting salty perception because they dis-
solve more slowly (16). Fat decreases the intensity of salti-
ness, so in snacks with a large amount of surface fat, small
particles of salt are enrobed in fat, losing their intensity.
For that reason, large salt is typically used for potato chips
and high fat snacks (16). Dry snacks with less than 30%
oil, such as tortilla chips, work best with a small particle
size flour salt because the small salt has better adherence,
more uniform distribution and high solubility.
Size also affects salt’s flow characteristics. The ability
of the salt to flow is crucial to produce an even, repro-
ducible coating on snacks. Flowability is improved by low
humidity in the environment, a free flowing structure such
as for cubic salt, and the use of anti-caking agents, such as
tricalcium phosphate (TCP). Smaller salts can be more
evenly applied, though this size benefit may be offset
because smaller salts are more cohesive and will clump
readily unless an anticaking agent is used.
It is important that the size and density of the salt be
the same as the other ingredients in a mixed seasoning
blend to minimize stratification during handling. The den-
sity of salt can be decreased by the addition of sodium fer-
rocyanide to interrupt the crystal structure and produce a
more porous structure. Also, the more irregular the shape
and the more porous the structure, the lower the bulk den-
sity. Since salt is denser than most food powders, the goal
is typically to reduce the salt’s bulk density and match its
size to the other powders.
The solubility of salt is important in some food sys-
tems because it determines how rapidly the salt will dis-
solve in the food system. When high solubility is desired,
a porous structure, such as in dendritic salt, will be more
soluble. The irregular surfaces found in Alberger and pul-
verized salt also make them go into solution more rapidly
than cube salt. In some cases, a lower solubility is desired.
For example, large, rock salt is frequently added to pret-
zels for visual appeal. However, the partially dissolved
salt raises the local heat capacity, creating a weak spot in
the dough. This is not a problem for large pretzels, but for
small, thin pretzels, flake salt is used instead because it is
169-8 Handbook of Food Science, Technology, and Engineering, Volume 4
less soluble, causes less of an increase in heat capacity
and therefore is less likely to cause blisters (16).
Once the salt reaches the snack, it must adhere to be
of any value. Flakes give better adhesion than cubes
because of their larger surface area. For crackers espe-
cially, adhesion can be difficult because of their smooth
surface. Crackers are frequently oiled then flaked or den-
dritic salt is applied because they have the best adherence
to the smooth cracker surface.
VIII. OTHER FLAVORS
The most popular flavors for salty snacks are cheese, BBQ,
sour cream and onion, and ranch (5). Typical seasoning
levels are 8–10%, depending on the seasoning and snack
base (3). These flavors are complex, and change over the
years as consumer preference changes. The flavor base
frequently combines cheese, tomato, onion and garlic.
Monosodium glutamate, yeast extracts, disodium inosinate
and disodium guanylate can be added to accentuate savory,
salty flavors. Botanical extracts may also be added to boost
savory notes, as well as acting as antioxidants. Maltol is a
sweetness enhancer, but it also enhances and modifies
savory flavors, adds mouthfeel, increases creaminess and
dairy notes and decreases bitterness. At low levels, salt
enhances sweetness as well as rounding out flavors. Fillers
such as maltodextrin, whey powder, wheat flour, or corn
flour are also used to add bulk (5). Finally, a free flow or
anticaking agent such as silicon dioxide or tricalcium
phosphate is used to prevent clumping.
Anticaking agents are frequently added because of the
hydrophobic nature of many food powders. These are very
small powders that are added to another powder to inhibit
its tendency to cake, improving the flowability (19). Most
anticaking agents are insoluble in water but many of them
can absorb considerable amounts of water as a result of
their large surface area. The host particles are coated with
a layer of these anticaking particles and are physically
separated. Thus the points of contact are between anticak-
ing particles, which are chosen primarily for their low
attractivity. This prevents the rest of the powder from
clumping.
Another problem with flavors is their tendency to lose
intensity quickly during storage. Flavors deteriorate on
snacks primarily because of oxygen and ultraviolet rays.
To minimize loss, snacks can be packed in nitrogen
flushed, aluminum foil laminate bags. Greater than 2%
moisture in potato chips also accelerates oxidation of both
the flavors and the oils. Flavors can be encapsulated to
extend shelf life but this is not common due to the cost.
IX. POWDER PROPERTIES
The effect of size and shape on taste, adherence and
flowability has already been mentioned in the section on
© 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
salt. The increased flavor intensity as the particle size
decreases is used in a number of applications, such as
powdered sugar on donuts (20).
In a typical gravity fed tumble drum application, the
most efficient coating is produced by small, free flowing
powders (21). Larger particles are more likely to be
unevenly distributed, and are more likely to fall off of the
product. Free flowing powders produce a more repro-
ducible flow rate and are evenly distributed across the sur-
face of the product. If the powder is cohesive or ambient
humidity gets too high, spices clump, and uniformity in
application suffers. Many flavor powders are very hygro-
scopic and agglomerate easily. Thus the addition of anti-
caking agents is important to keep powders free flowing.
The smaller the powder, the more cohesive it is (22), thus
anticaking agents are especially important for small pow-
ders. In a pneumatically fed conveyor belt system, free
flowing powders are still the most efficient, but efficiency
increases as particle size increases. This is because
smaller particles are more likely to be lost off the con-
veyor belt unless a powder recovery system is used.
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