Pie is a traditional, favorite dessert whether it’s apple, blueberry, cherry, peach, raspberry, and countless more, the sweet and sometimes savory taste is an American favorite.

While we think of pie as a sweet treat, the early pies were predominately meat pies.

According to the American Pie Council:

• “Pyes (pies) originally appeared in England as early as the twelfth century. Often these pies were made using fowl and the legs were left to hang over the side of the dish and used as handles. The crust of the pie was referred to as “coffin.” There was actually more crust than filling. Fruit pies or tarts (pasties) were probably first made in the 1500s. English tradition credits making the first cherry pie to Queen Elizabeth I.
• Pie came to America with the first English settlers. The early colonists cooked their pies in long narrow pans calling them “coffins” like the crust in England. As in the Roman times, the early American pie crusts often were not eaten, but simply designed to hold the filling during baking. It was during the American Revolution that the term crust was used instead of coffyn.
• Over the years, pie has evolved to become what it is today “the most traditional American dessert.” Pie has become so much a part of American culture throughout the years, that we now commonly use the term “as American as apple pie.”

Recent consumer surveys reveal consumers have a distinct preference for whole fruit and products that have fruit fillings because of the similar qualities whole fruits have — taste, naturalness and health. Plus, they are looking for products made naturally, free from artificial flavors and colors, and added sugars. They want a product that has a clean label.

Food manufacturers face a variety of factors in formulating pie and pastry fillings including texture, moisture, stability, shelf life, percent of sugars, pH, and of course flavor. The finished product should have the characteristic fruit flavor with no artificial or chemical aftertaste and mimic the sweetness of the fruit as well as the acid bite (because fruit is normally acidic).

LifeWise P-60M is a flavor modifier for fruit fillings and fruit flavored products. It enhances the fruit flavor consumers expect, adds zest while keeping the tart taste of acid, and masks off-notes.

It’s clean label, GMO-free and free of allergen-label requirements. No added MSG, HVP, gluten, soy nucleotides, yeast or other common allergenic ingredients. In addition, all are cRc-certified kosher and manufactured under SQF certified quality control standards.