New Ingredients And Flavors For 2008

Americans accept and even expect to see more whole grains and dietary fiber in their daily fare for the New Year. But that doesn’t mean they want to taste the fiber. Cargill’s Oliggo-Fiber is a source of inulin and oligofructose, fructose polymers often referred to as “invisible fiber” because they can be incorporated into almost any food or beverage without affecting taste or texture. “Research indicates that inulin may enhance dietary calcium absorption, particularly among preteens and postmenopausal women, adds Stauffer.

“A typical diet in the U.S. and Europe does not meet the daily recommended intake of fiber and this may be linked to low consumer expectations surrounding the taste and texture of high or added fiber products,” says Harvey Chimoff, director of marketing for Tate & Lyle Americas (www.tateandlyle.com), Decatur, Ill. “Our research shows consumers clearly understand fiber can be good for their health. But we also know a consumer’s eating experience must be about the product they’ve chosen, not the fiber that’s in it.”

Tate and Lyle recently launched its Promitor brand of resistant starch, which “resists” digestion and acts as dietary fiber and a prebiotic that promotes gut health. Promitor resistant starch will help manufacturers increase the fiber content of baked products and snacks (including cereal, crackers, cookies, bread and pasta) or even ice cream and other dairy products, with no impact on taste or texture.

More weighty solutions

Weight and energy continue to be on the minds of Americans, and it’s a pretty safe bet that consumers, bored with dietary hokum, still want something sweet they can “feel good” about. This is driving increased development of sweetener solutions. Cargill’s Xtend Sucromalt is one such ingredient. Derived from sucrose and maltose, it provides the full energy of both glucose and fructose, but is released over a longer period of time.

“Xtend Sucromalt can replace multiple sweeteners and bulking agents in many formulations,” says Stauffer. “This allows food manufacturers to have a simpler ingredient label and potentially reduce the amount of simple sugars in the formulation.” The company also makes SweetDesign sweetener system which contains 56 percent fewer calories on a weight basis compared to sugar. The one-to-one system enables manufacturers to formulate baked goods to meet multiple targeted claims, depending upon the formula, including sugar-free, no-sugar-added or reduced-calorie.

Protein solutions are also gaining ground. “Whey protein is ideal for physically active consumers who want to optimize protein intake and improve body composition,” says Sharon Gerdes, technical support consultant for Rosemont, Ill.-based Dairy Management Inc./DMI (www.dairyinfo.com). According to DMI, research indicates consuming a high-quality protein like whey, in combination with resistance exercise, can boost the rate at which the body makes lean muscle mass, which in turn may improve body composition.

Smoothies and drinkable yogurt have been one of the fastest growing categories worldwide. An example of how processors can combine the health, flavor and convenience aspects of dairy proteins is exemplified by DMI’s peach yogurt smoothie solution. It features domestic milk-protein concentrate, peach puree, the probiotics L. caseii and L. acidophilus and the prebiotic fructo-oligosaccharide inulin. “Because milk protein concentrate adds viscosity, no additional stabilizers are needed, allowing the peach flavor to come through,” notes Gerdes.

You can’t mention dairy and flavor without thinking of cheese. Givaudan Flavors (www.givaudan.com), Cincinnati, has developed a series of proprietary natural ingredients in the company’s TasteEssentials “toolbox for Cheese Flavors.”

“These ingredients enable manufacturers to provide consumers with specific cheese characteristics, such as emmental or Camembert, in a variety of products like sauces, dressings, process cheese, seasonings and snacks,” says Andreas Haenni, head of the savory segment at Givaudan. “We respond to consumers’ health concerns by providing the right taste for low-fat products, fortified products, soy products or dairy analogs. And we can help food producers achieve cost stability and consistency in a flavor profile by replacing dairy commodities with concentrated flavors.”

Building on previous successes

Many of the new year’s offerings will build on recent successes. Soy, one of the most utilized health ingredients is one example. According to Tom Woodward, vice president of business development for Devansoy, Inc. (www.devansoy.com), Carroll, Iowa, some of the trends we are now seeing and will likely continue to see with regards to soy foods, are added products, including: fiber, omega-3, omega-6, flax and new fruits or fruit combinations, for example mango and mixed berry.
“In general, we’ll see brands adding ingredients that compliment the health benefits of soy foods. Brands might add vitamin/mineral packages to soy, which is already high in protein, and position these products as ‘well rounded’ and healthy additions to the diet,” Woodward explains.

In the New Year, fiber will come in many forms, and while you can’t always make it invisible, you can certainly make it interesting. Hemp may be an ancient plant, but its use as food is only recently popular, at least in the western world. “Hemp is controversial given its botanical association to marijuana,” admits Chris Steinmetz, managing director at French Meadow Bakery (www.frenchmeadow.com), Minneapolis.