Suppliers and manufacturers are teaming up to create healthy functional foods and beverages that don’t sacrifice taste or texture.

Consumer interest in functional foods and beverages is growing as more people are becoming aware of these convenient products, as well as the potential disease prevention offered by good nutrition. As a result, the market for functional foods and beverages is on track to reach $176.7 billion this year, accounting for five percent of the overall food market, according to Euromonitor. Yet this category can be tricky for manufacturers, as adding nutritional ingredients to a product can often result in sacrificed taste or texture.

“We are aware of our customer’s need to meet the demands of today’s consumers when it comes to health and wellness,” said Shana Brewer, senior marketing manager with Texture North America at Illinois-based Ingredion. “However, if a product’s taste or texture is compromised as a result of the addition of nutritional ingredients, consumers will most likely not come back for the repeat purchase.” 

Ingredion works to offer functionality, taste and a good mouth feel when developing nutritional ingredients for functional foods. The company offers a broad portfolio of ingredients such as starch and fibers that are ideal for incorporation into existing products while minimally impacting the eating quality for the consumer, according to Brewer.

New Jersey-based BASF Nutrition & Health, an ingredient supplier for food, beverage and dietary supplements, also offers options that take taste and texture into consideration. “Technologies in processing and manufacturing enable BASF to produce high-quality nutritional ingredients that have little to no impact on the sensory aspects of a finished product,” said Charles Barber, technical sales and applications manager.

Formulating Texture & Taste 

To achieve the perfect texture in a product, Ingredion utilizes its data driven Dial-In texture technology, which enables the company to work closely with customers to meet their texture goals when adding nutritional ingredients. Dial-In is beneficial whether the goal is to maintain or even to improve the texture of a finished product, such as enhancing mouth coating or creaminess, said Brewer. “The ultimate goal of this approach is to help our customers to rapidly and accurately meet their texture goals in the fastest way possible,” she added.

Dial-In technology uses a precise sensory language the company calls TEXICON, which can quantifiably demonstrate what a customer means when they say they want a product to be “creamy” or “silky,” Brewer explained. “Using our expert descriptive sensory panels, Ingredion has the ability to translate these integrated consumer terms … into precise and measurable sensory attributes to accurately define a product’s texture profile or target,” she said.

BASF also works closely with its customers. The company’s goal is to optimize the formulation development process, select the best ingredient, and design the most appropriate processing method to ensure the best end result, said Barber. BASF offers several ingredients that improve baked goods, such as Lamequick whipping agents, Spongolit cake emulsifiers and Nutrilife bakery enzymes that add a “feel good” factor, he added.

Illinois-based VDF FutureCeuticals, Inc. is another company working to improve texture. According to Andrew Wheeler, the company’s marketing specialist, the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) set out in the late 1990s to improve the formulation capabilities and uses of grain brans, and in particular, oat bran and barley bran. Dr. George Inglett, an ARS (Agricultural Research Service) Hall of Fame Scientist at the USDA, headed the effort to make the healthy benefits of oats easier to incorporate into the typical American diet. “His efforts resulted in the development of a patented thermo-mechanical processing technique that disrupts the endosperm of oats, freeing the soluble fiber (beta-glucans) and transforming the ingoing oat bran into a highly functional, beta-glucan rich, linearly viscous hydrocolloid material,” Wheeler explained.

This patented process, called TRIM, is licensed exclusively to VDF FutureCeuticals, Inc. by the USDA. “Today, FutureCeuticals uses the TRIM process to create functional, all-natural grain ingredients for functional beverages,” said Wheeler. The TRIM process yields a healthy “gum,” or suspension agent, that, when added to formula, creates a creamy mouth feel and smooth texture for ready-to-drink and ready-to-mix beverages.

In addition, FutureCeuticals has found that several of its ingredients help mask taste to create a better product. “Specific to our TRIM line, beyond the mentioned organoleptic benefits, we’re finding that increasingly our grains are being used to help mask the proteins, in particular rice and pea proteins,” said Wheeler. “QuinoaTrim, BarleyTrim, Nutrim Oat Brain and ModCarb (a combination of six ancient grains: oats, amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa, millet, durum and chia) have all proven very useful in this regard.” 

Healthy Ingredients 

Illinois-based ADM (Archer Daniels Midland Company) specializes in Fibersol, a full line of fiber ingredients that can be used to improve the nutritional profile and fiber content of food application without compromising taste, according to Käti Ledbetter, product development scientist at ADM. “Within the Fibersol line, Fibersol-2, digestion resistant maltodextrine, has unique characteristics that make it ideal for beverage application,” said Ledbetter. “The unique properties of Fibersol-2 allow soluble fiber to be included in any type of beverage at higher levels, which truly has a positive effect on health, without any negative effects on consumer acceptability.” 

According to Ledbetter, increased fiber intake has clinically proven healthy benefits, especially for diabetics who need to control their blood glucose levels. Fibersol-2 delivers 1.6 kcal per gram, making it an ideal ingredient in lower-calorie products, and up to 10 g can be in any application while only adding .20 g of sugar. “In other words, with Fibersol, you can provide products for health-conscious consumers that give them the dietary fiber they need without sacrificing the taste, aroma and texture they want,” she said. Fibersol-2 can be added to baking products to increase fiber content and add sweetness.

Ingredion also provides ingredients for the health-conscious consumer that offer effective, clinically validated solutions to deal with today’s top health concerns, such as energy management, weight management and blood sugar management, along with digestive, immune and bone health, said Brewer. The company offers HI-MAIZE 260 resistant starch that has been shown in more than 70 human clinical trials to have a positive effect on supporting energy, weight management and helping maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

The company also offers WEIGHTAIN, a newly launched whole grain-based ingredient with demonstrated satiety effects and ability to reduce calorie intake, as well as NUTRAFLORA, a prebiotic soluble fiber that has a strong body of evidence demonstrating that it selectively promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria to support digestive, immune and bone health, said Brewer.

Further, Ingredion introduced AQUAMIN calcified mineral matrix, a unique algae-based source of calcium and 70 other trace minerals with demonstrated bone and joint health benefits, and NUTRIOSE soluble fiber, a versatile and process-stable fiber that seamlessly enhances the fiber content of all types of foods and beverages.

“There are many ingredients in the market that promote benefits around digestive health or blood sugar management. But not all fibers and ingredients are equal,” said Brewer. “All of the nutrition ingredients that Ingredion develops and promotes have been extensively evaluated in clinical trials and have strong substantiation for their benefits.” 

Manufacturing Process 

Aside from the right ingredients, the manufacturing process of functional foods and beverages also plays a large role in whether the product will be something people want to eat. “Mixing, blending, pasteurization and homogenization are all integral parts of creating an appealing tasting and stable food or beverage,” said BASF’s Barber.

According to Barber, the high temperatures of pasteurization can adversely impact flavor and nutrition of foods and beverages. “Because many nutritional ingredients are lipid-based and can be challenging to work with, BASF’s scientists offer formulation guidance on maintaining the product’s stability and great taste.”

BASF has a “kitchen” in Tarrytown, NY where it invites customers to brainstorm concepts and experience the company’s prototypes firsthand to see which ones pass their sensory tests. “The secret to a successful concept is that it has to resonate with consumers,” Barber said. “You can have a product loaded with health benefits, but that’s just part of the equation. It’s also got to have a compelling marketing message consumers understand.” 

To achieve this, BASF helps eliminate the guesswork by offering guidance throughout all aspects of formulation. “BASF is unique in that we can offer services others can’t,” Barber concluded. “For example, our pharmaceutical expertise allows us to work with customers in creating a dietary supplement with slower controlled release, improved bioavailability, better disintegration and more effective taste masking. These aspects of taste masking also apply to foods and beverages.” 

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
■ ADM, (217) 451-4377
■ BASF Nutrition & Health, (800) 526-1072
■ Ingredion Incorporated, (708) 551-2600
■ VDF FutureCeuticals, Inc., (888) 452-6853