Liquid Smoke: Health Benefits and Advantages in a Food Products (2024)

Nowadays, the craze and love for barbeque food is increasing tremendously all across the globe. The chefs are using “smoke” in various food items to enhance the flavor, texture, color, and most importantly the taste of the food. Liquid smoke is a natural product that is prepared from burning wood. It is widely available in any supermarkets or grocery shops in little bottles and used in preparing various commercial food items, such as barbecue sauces, marinades, hot dogs, many kinds of cheese, and several other food items.

With the growing awareness of eating healthy, people are changing their tastes from eating fried foods to barbeque foods. We cannot say that health is the only reason behind the switching of an individual’s preference towards barbeque food. Taste also plays a big role in creating a liking factor towards food. Barbeque food is prepared with smoky flavors which not only enhances the taste but also the texture, color, odor, and look of the food.

For thousands of years, the smoke has been there as a part of our food. Presently, liquid smoke is broadly used across restaurants and various food chains to deliver normal food with enhanced flavor. The liquid smoke is produced by burning real wood and then the smoke is captured for further use. So, the liquid smoke gives you a smoky flavor without actually smoking anything in real.

What is the Difference between Liquid Smoke and Traditional Smoke?

Basically, in traditional smoke, there exists some soluble and insoluble phases of smoke that come in contact with the food product. However, in the case of liquid smoke it is prepared by the controlled pyrolysis process of hardwood sawdust and contains only soluble phase of smoke.

Secondly, with traditional smoke, it is difficult to maintain the consistency of color and flavor of food. On the other hand, using liquid smoke can be helpful to deliver consistent food products.

In addition, producing traditional smoke can cause harmful environmental impacts and result in equipment degradation due to excessive heat exposure. Whether preparing liquid smoke results in less pollution by reducing carbon emissions to the atmosphere.

Is Liquid Smoke Safe?

Smoke means a byproduct of combustion, whether it comes from actual smoking or in liquid forms, it will always contain some amount of the organic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs. Intake of a large amount of PAHs can have harmful effects on health or can be carcinogenic. However, in liquid smoke, the presence of PAHs is quite less and is used in a small amount to add flavor to food, it is harmless. In addition, it is also recommended not to drink the liquid smoke directly to avoid any kind of health complications.

What are the Numerous Benefits of Using Liquid Smoke?

Liquid smoke can be used in giving a twist to a wide range of food products, such as seafood and fish, sauces, meat, bakery products, dairy products, sweets, ice cream, chocolates, and even beverages. It can be applied to food with various methods, such as spray, marination, immersion, injection, and in many other ways. For commercial purposes, liquid smoke is directly applied to the food packaging through contact surfaces, conveyor belts, etc. Out of many, some of the major benefits of using liquid smoke are listed below:

• Help in Maintaining Freshness and Antimicrobial Action: According to scientific research, liquid smoke help in reducing the chances of food contamination and proliferation of bacteria. The growth of various food-borne pathogens such as Staphylococcus, Listeria monocytogenes, and many more can be controlled with the help of liquid smoke.
  
• Enhancing Taste: Mostly, in the case of meat products, liquid smoke is added to bring authenticity and richness to the meal. Furthermore, liquid smoke is also helpful in maintaining the tenderness of meat while eating.
  
• Improving Color of the Food: Liquid smoke is also widely used to give a beautiful caramelized golden brown color to the food. Hence, it is used in a wide range of food products including both sweet and savory.
  
• Cost-Effective: Liquid smoke is much more economical to be used in a wide range of food items. It saves time, energy, manpower, and reduces the use of the equipment and the number of steps involved in the process of generating smoke.
  
• Providing Clean Label and Health Benefits: As people with busy life are willing to buy food which has an easy style of cooking, liquid smoke is enabling them to prepare delicious food with a clean label taste along with a good preservative solution. During the process of generating liquid smoke, as unwanted compounds such as phenolic derivatives are discarded, its consumption has no adherence to any chronic diseases like cancer.

The Future Insights of Liquid Smoke Market

With the increasing prevalence of barbeque and smoked food, the global liquid smoke market is expected to experience remarkable growth in the upcoming future. The market is anticipated to generate a revenue of $114,266.2 thousand and grow at a CAGR of 6.7% during the estimated timeframe from 2020-to 2028. In addition, the rising trend of packaged food in the market is expected to create massive growth opportunities for the market in the near future.

Key Massage Take Away

The growing consciousness among millennials post Covid-19 pandemic to maintain good well-being, is expected to enhance the demand for smoked food all across the globe in the coming years. Moreover, the increasing advancements in the retail sector to provide a wide range of food products with different smoke flavors are going to propel the growth of the liquid smoke market at a faster pace.