Cereal Ball
Cereal balls are small extruded spheres made from cereal flours and starches, produced as an inclusion and base ingredient rather than as a finished snack in their own right.
They are formed by extrusion cooking, in which a moistened blend of rice, wheat, corn or oat flour is gelatinised under heat and shear and then expanded at the die, so the starch sets into a rigid open cell foam. The result is a light, crisp sphere of one to eight millimetres with a low bulk density and a neutral cereal taste. Protein fortified versions substitute part of the cereal flour with soy, whey or pea protein isolate, and multigrain and bran versions are made where a fibre declaration is wanted.
The functional property that matters is crispness retention. The expanded structure absorbs moisture readily, so uncoated balls soften in a wet or fatty matrix within days. For that reason most trade grades are used coated, with a thin layer of chocolate, fat, sugar or shellac sealing the surface, which lets them hold texture through the shelf life of a bar, a chocolate tablet or a yoghurt topping.
We source bulk Cereal Ball from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Hainan. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Nutraceutical
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Uniform light cream expanded spheres |
| Odour and Taste | Characteristic toasted cereal, free from off notes |
| Diameter | 3.0 to 4.0 mm |
| Bulk Density | 110 to 150 g/L |
| Moisture | Not more than 5.0% |
| Fines through 2 mm sieve | Not more than 2.0% |
| Crude Protein | Not less than 7.0% |
| Total Fat | Not more than 2.0% |
| Total Ash | Not more than 3.0% |
| Foreign Matter | Absent |
| Total Plate Count | Not more than 10,000 CFU/g |
| Yeast and Mould | Not more than 100 CFU/g |
| E. coli | Absent in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Grades are described by cereal base, by diameter and by coating rather than by an assay. Plain uncoated balls in rice, wheat, corn, oat and multigrain bases are the commodity form, screened into narrow size bands because a mixed size lot separates in a hopper and gives uneven distribution in the finished product. Bulk density is specified alongside diameter, since it decides how many pieces a formulator gets per kilogram and how the product behaves in a mixer.
Coated grades are the larger commercial segment. Chocolate and compound coated balls, sugar shell coated balls, fat sealed balls and shellac glazed balls are each traded separately, and the coating weight is declared as a percentage of the finished piece. Protein enriched balls are graded on protein content, commonly from 30 to 70 percent, and coloured and flavoured versions are made with fruit and vegetable concentrates or added flavour. Gluten free lots produced on segregated lines and organic certified lots are handled as separate streams.
Applications
- Chocolate tablets and bars, where coated balls give the audible snap of a crisp filled chocolate
- Cereal and protein bars, where they lighten a dense binder system and break up the chew
- Breakfast cereal and muesli blends, as a textural component alongside flakes and clusters
- Yoghurt toppings and side pot inclusions, where a sealed coating keeps them crisp against a wet phase
- Ice cream and frozen dessert inclusions, where the coating resists moisture migration at low temperature
- Confectionery centres and panned sweets, where the ball acts as a light expanded core to be coated up
- Protein snack products, where protein enriched balls carry the nutritional claim and the texture together
- Instant drink and meal replacement powders, added as a visible particulate that rehydrates in the bowl
- Bakery decoration and biscuit inclusions, sprinkled or folded in for surface texture
China Manufacturers of Cereal Ball
Top Cereal Ball manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
Cereal balls are a compound food ingredient rather than a food additive, so they are regulated on the status of their components rather than through any single authorisation. In the United States they fall under the Food Safety Modernization Act preventive controls rules for human food, with the cereal flours, sugars and fats used all being conventional food ingredients and any colours restricted to those permitted for the intended food category. Wheat, soy and milk derived components are named allergens under the Food Allergen Labelling and Consumer Protection Act and must be declared, and a gluten free claim requires compliance with the FDA gluten free labelling rule.
In the European Union the same logic applies. The product is placed on the market under the general food law and hygiene regulations, with any added colours, emulsifiers or glazing agents such as shellac used within the additive framework and its permitted category list, and shellac carrying the designation E 904. Cereals containing gluten, soy and milk are Annex II allergens under the food information regulation. Contaminant limits for cereals apply, with mycotoxins the relevant category for a flour based product, and Codex covers the material through its general standards and codes of hygienic practice for cereals rather than through a JECFA additive specification.
Manufacturing Process
Production runs on a twin screw extruder. Cereal flours and starches are dosed with sugar, salt, calcium carbonate or protein isolate into a continuous mixer and preconditioned with water and steam to raise the moisture into the working range. The blend is fed to the extruder barrel, where the screws work it under rising temperature and pressure into a plasticised melt and gelatinise the starch. At the die the pressure drops abruptly, water flashes to steam, and the melt expands into a foam that is cut into spheres by a rotating face knife whose speed sets the piece size.
The wet spheres leave the die at high moisture and are conveyed to a hot air or infrared dryer that takes them down to a moisture low enough for crispness and microbiological stability, then to a cooler that brings them to ambient before any coating step. Coating is done in rotating drums or continuous enrobers, where chocolate, compound, fat, sugar syrup or shellac is sprayed onto the tumbling bed and set by chilled air. The coated pieces are screened to remove fines and doubles, metal checked, then packed in lined cartons or drums under conditions that protect them from moisture pickup.
