Bakery products are important sources of nutrients in our diet. However, spoilage occurs shortly after baking. After microbial spoilage, the main spoilage problem is staling. / Therefore, methods to control staling are of great importance to the bakery industry since staling results in millions of dollars annually in lost revenues. / Initial studies using a one variable at a time approach showed that enzymes, guar, algin and pectin gums and high fructose corn syrup could delay staling and resulted in an organoleptically acceptable product. Subsequent optimization studies using a Response Surface Methodology (RSM) approach show the appropriate levels of enzyme (Novamyl), guar gum and HFCS resulted in bagels with a textural and sensorial shelf life of 6 weeks at ambient temperature. / Furthermore, the cost of reformulating ($ sim$0.5 cent/bagel) is minimal and could easily be recovered through reduced production costs, reduced losses due to staling and additional sales and market areas.

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