Givaudan’s New Freezeframe Flavors Make Processed Foods Taste Like They Were Freshly Cooked

Imagine prepping a quick spaghetti dinner after a long day. You heat up some pasta, warm up some jarred sauce, mix the two together with some grated Parmesan, and take a bite. Instantly, you’re hit with the acidity and sweetness of the tomato, saltiness of the cheese, and fresh notes of basil that tastes like it was just picked and tossed into the sauce. As all of those aromas and flavors hit you, you think to yourself: “Wait, didn’t this sauce I just poured out of a jar get cooked a few months ago?

Flavor perceptions like these are about to hit our palates thanks to flavor giant Givaudan. They’ve unleashed a new lineup of ingredients called “Freezeframe Flavors” that capture various foods at their peak freshness. These include a lime flavor that has the aroma of just being squeezed from a fresh fruit, cilantro and parsley that were just picked off of stems, and other produce items like lettuce, asparagus, basil, and lemon.

Givaudan produces both natural and artificial flavors for companies, and it is unknown whether or not the Freezeframe flavors are natural or synthetic. In fact, they don’t list the ingredients in their flavors, but whatever is inside is evoking the essence of the aforementioned produce.

Typically, food flavors aren’t able to fully capture the aromatic profile of the ingredients they’re sourced from. That’s because some of the compounds essential to the full flavor profile degrade due to evaporation, oxidation, and other factors. Givaudan’s new Freezeframe technology allows them to capture aromas and tastes at their peak, without any of the breakdown of other compounds.

By adding these to processed foods like jarred spaghetti sauce, companies can now make these items taste fresher, which is more appealing to consumers looking for what they perceive to be fresher ingredients. Of course, foods would be processed just the same, but the Freezeframe flavors would help increase their preference amongst customers.

Givaudan’s new flavors aim to be used across many products, including chips, sauces, and other processed foods. Currently, only the seven aforementioned ingredients are available, but the company hopes to have others like chive, ginger, lemongrass, and cucumber ready to launch soon.