Prepared Foods and its NutraSolutions brand present this annual “Ingredients for Health” reference. It offers market data and information about commercially available ingredients that assist developers and formulators with products targets various health benefits. From ingredients such as chia seed and red tomato for antioxidant supplementation, to the colors, flavors and textures that make functional foods and beverages products attractive and palatable, this section offers a comprehensive range of new offerings.

 

Categories include:

 

Antioxidants for Health

Bone & Joint Health

Cardiovascular Health

Cognitive Health

Diabetic Benefits

Digestive Health

Energy and/or Sports Performance

Eye Health

Immunity Enhancement

Weight Management

General Health

 

 Digestive health has long been one of the major drivers of the functional foods market globally, although probiotic products, one of the key areas, have recently come under pressure from regulatory difficulties with regard to claims in some parts of the world, particularly the EU, where the word “probiotic” is no longer allowed. The number of global launches marketed on a specific digestive or gut health platform continued to rise significantly in 2013, however, and dairy products continued to dominate with a 41% share, led by yogurt with a 26% share and drinking yogurts and fermented beverages with 12%.

An associated area of interest in digestive health is that of fiber content, although products positioned on a high-fiber, source-of-
fiber or added-fiber platform may or may not use specific digestive or gut health claims. Cereal products (breakfast cereals and cereal bars) and bakery products were the leading users of fiber-related claims, accounting for over half the total between them, with 29% of claims used on cereal products and 22% on bakery products. Other leading users of this type of claim include snacks (9% of the total), ready meals (8%) and fruits and vegetables (6%).

—Lu Ann Williams, Innova Market Insights, helpdesk@innovami.com, www.innovadatabase.com

 

Break Down Carbohydrates

Centerchem is the exclusive North American distributor of DSM’s single and multi-enzyme dietary and nutritional supplements for complex carbohydrate breakdown. These enzymes are used for digestive health and lactose intolerance. Visit Centerchem’s website to learn more about Validase AGS, Maxinvert 200,000, Pancreatic Lipase, Validase FP Concentrate and Validase Yeast Lactase.
—Centerchem, www.centerchem.com

 

Prebiotic Fiber

Nexira’s Fibregum product line provides all-natural dietary fiber based on 100% gum acacia. With a soluble dietary fiber content of more than 90%, Fibregum is the choice ingredient for fiber fortification of finished products. Thanks to its high solubility and no added viscosity, Fibregum is easy to incorporate in beverages, cereal bars, baked goods, dairy products and other applications. Fibregum has a proven bifidogenic effect and high gut tolerance for up to 50g/day. It has low caloric value and is safe for teeth. Available in three grades including an organic option and Fibregum Tan, which also is rich in antioxidants.—Nexira, www.nexira.com

 

Reduce Discomfort

Clasado develops and manufactures unique prebiotic technologies. These include the world’s most advanced and only second generation Galacto-oligosaccharide Bimuno, which exhibits a range of clinically proven health benefits in the areas of digestive and immune health, including the unique ability to reduce digestive discomfort and bloating with just seven days. Bimuno GOS is GRAS approved for both food and infant formula and is available as a highly stable syrup and free flowing powder.—Clasado Inc., www.clasado.com

Unique Prebiotic Fiber

NUTRAFLORA is a soluble prebiotic fiber that provides a beneficial physiological effect on the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of beneficial bacteria.  It is a gentle, well tolerated prebiotic fiber that has published studies supporting digestive health claims at very low dose levels. As an invisible ingredient when added to foods and beverages, NUTRAFLORA is stable in most processing conditions including pasteurization, batch cooking, retorting, baking, extrusion shear (pumping, mixing, homogenization) and drying, making it ideal for an extensive array of foods and beverages. This unique prebiotic fiber ingredient has other functional benefits including enhancing flavors, having a clean sweet profile (30% sweetness of sugar), round and extend the sweetness profile of high intensity sweeteners, does not participate in Maillard browning, provides freezing point control, provides fat-mimetic properties, does not contribute to viscosity and can enhance the mouthfeel and creaminess of low fat/fat free dairy products.—Ingredion Incorporated, www.ingredion.com

 

Natural Fiber Source

NUTRIOSE, a soluble fiber of natural origin, is an invisible, safe, stable, prebiotic, and soluble fiber created by Roquette, the world leader in polyols and one of the top-ranked processors of starch globally. Developed to meet consumers’ demand for optimum nutrition in their food without having to sacrifice taste and convenience, NUTRIOSE fiber ingredients support digestibility and mouthfeel. Benefitting from an outstanding solubility and remarkable tolerance, NUTRIOSE is a healthy, convenient way to supplement fiber intake and is easy to use in applications, even at a high dose. Suitable for both food and beverage applications, NUTRIOSE can be used in virtually any process as a solution for fiber enrichment, weight management, sugar reduction, clean labeling, glycemic response, or as a prebiotic.—Roquette America,
www.RoquetteAmerica.com

 

Chicory Root

BENEO’s inulin and oligofructose are naturally occurring dietary fibers extracted from chicory root. The prebiotic fibers are fermented in the large intestine, promote the growth of good bacteria and favorably affect metabolism in a number of ways. This fermentation results in an increase of the bacterial biomass, which improves bowel function and increases regularity while also improving digestive efficiency.  Human clinical trials have shown that oligofructose-enriched inulin significantly increases the absorption of calcium by altering the pH of the large intestine to enhance its absorptive efficiency. The prebiotic benefits of inulin and oligo-fructose also extend to boosting the body’s natural defenses. Latest studies have shown that inulin can help a person feel fuller longer and help one eat less naturally.—BENEO Inc., www.beneo.com

Fiber for Health

Increased fiber intake has clinically-proven health benefits—especially for diabetic, weight loss/management and other digestive-health-related issues. Fibersol offers a full line of low-viscosity soluble dietary fiber ingredients that clinical research has indicated help support or maintain intestinal regularity. Clinical studies show that Fibersol-2 helps to relieve occasional constipation and select studies show that it improves stool consistency. Fibersol ingredients help processors “close the gap” and reach desired fiber content/label claims with no effects on taste or viscosity. Fibersol ingredients can easily be added to existing formulations with minimal adjustments. There is virtually no application that Fibersol ingredients can’t fit into, and these high-quality fiber ingredients stay consistent no matter what the form (agglomerated, liquid, etc.).
—ADM/ Matsutani LLC, www.fibersol.com

 

Prebiotic Dietary Fiber

Sensus’ Frutafit inulin and Frutalose oligofructose are prebiotic ingredients that promote digestive health by enriching the fiber content of food. These ingredients have a low caloric value and are ideal as sugar and fat replacers. They also contribute to satiety, making them a very useful tool for weight management. Inulin boosts calcium absorption, resulting in improved bone health. Besides that, inulin can be used in a wide range of products due to its ability to improve texture, its creamy mouthfeel, and its neutral, slightly sweet taste.—Sensus, www.sensusnl.com

 

Probiotics, Fiber

HOWARU Bifido probiotics and Litesse Polydextrose are just two digestive health ingredients from DuPont Nutrition & Health. These ingredients help keep gut microflora in balance, improve colonic health and generally support digestive health. More commonly known as Bifidobacterium lactis HN019, HOWARU Bifido is one of the most clinically-studied probiotic strains. It’s stable and efficacious. Litesse Polydextrose is a soluble fiber with a prebiotic effect that improves bowel function. It’s low-calorie, extremely well tolerated and easily integrated into food and beverage matrices.
—DuPont Nutrition & Health, www.danisco.com

 

Versatile Probiotic

GanedenBC30 (Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086) is Ganeden Biotech’s patented probiotic ingredient that can be found in more than 100 leading food and beverage products worldwide. Unlike most other probiotic strains, GanedenBC30 is a spore-forming organism, which makes it highly stable and allows it remain viable through most manufacturing processes. It also has three years of shelf life and the low pH of stomach acid. The efficacy of GanedenBC30 is backed by 18 published studies showing digestive and immune support and GanedenBC30 has an exceptional safety record with FDA GRAS status. It can be formulated into virtually any product that experiences high or low temperature, pressure or environmental extremes including all hot or refrigerated beverages.—Ganeden Biotech, www.GanedenBiotech.com or GanedenBC30.com.

 

Gum Acacia

Gum acacia from Alland & Robert provides an all-natural dietary fiber that is vegan, non-GMO and low-allergen. Gum acacia has a soluble fiber content of over 90% and is ideal for fiber enrichment for a range of products such as beverages, cereal bars, baked goods, dairy products and nutraceuticals. Gum acacia can be added in a very high quantity with minimal effect on viscosity and little digestive impact on the gut, along with a low caloric value.
—Farbest Brands, www.farbest.com

 

Sweet Natural Fiber

BioNeutra’s VitaFiber is a naturally sweet isomalto-oligosaccharide prebiotic fiber for human digestive health. VitaFiber is non-GMO, sugar-free and gluten-free and comes as a syrup or powder. VitaFiber is perfect for bars, beverages, baked goods, confections or chocolates. On a dry basis, VitaFiber is greater than 90% soluble fiber. Based on published studies, the caloric value of VitaFiber is 1.5 kcal/g. All VitaFiber products are kosher and halal. All VitaFiber products also are FDA GRAS and approved by Health Canada.
—BioNeutra, www.bioneutra.ca

Healthy Snacking

Grain Processing Corporation (GPC) used SupplySide West to demonstrate how GPC’s TruBran, an insoluble fiber with a typical 85% total dietary fiber level, makes it easy to fortify snacks and foods and deliver great flavor and texture. GPC showcased TruBran in Cherry Pistachio Granola Bars and Yogurt-Coated Protein Snack Bites.—Grain Processing Corporation, www.grainprocessing.com

 

Natural Solution

Sunfiber is an all natural, galactomannan-based soluble fiber made from hydrolyzed guar gum. Tasteless, colorless and odorless, Sunfiber has no visible effect on product but it significantly boosts health benefits and improves food and beverage functionality. It delivers high soluble fiber content with low caloric contribution (1.9kcal/gram) and exhibits excellent stability. Sunfiber is true regulating fiber that not only helps with constipation, but uniquely helps with diarrhea as well—returning stool content to a normal, healthy state without the typical bloating, cramping and gas production of other fibers. Sunfiber is 100% gluten free, GRAS (self affirmation), non-GMO, certified kosher and halal.—Taiyo International Inc., www.sunfiber.com

 

Fiber Focus

SunOpta transforms a variety of natural and sustainable grain and plant-based raw materials into value-added food ingredient solutions. We specialize in the technical processing of food ingredients with a focus on non-GMO, natural, functional and organic offerings. SunOpta offers a family of insoluble fibers including Canadian Harvest Oat Fibers, Stabilized Brans and Wheat Germ and SunOpta Soy, Cellulose and Rice Fibers. These high quality fibers are the perfect choice for increasing a product’s dietary fiber content and meet demands of health-conscious consumers. SunOpta’s line of fiber products comes with a solid reputation for consistent quality and the technical expertise needed to incorporate them into all kinds of foods and beverages.-—SunOpta, www.sunopta.com