This time of year is always a bit strange for me, in that much editorial effort is directed towards two aspects of the food industry, with often very differing goals. This issue, our November Foodservice New Products Annual, serves up pleasing tidbits of information on food’s sensory side, as it discusses trends in restaurant foods and beverages and what’s happening on the culinary scene. We then swing into December’s Annual Health Ingredients issue, where we dish up healthy servings of editorial, covering ingredients, such as those beneficial to bone and cardiovascular health, to those that influence immunity and weight management.
These two issues represent what can be a certain divergence of priorities--optimal taste vs. optimal health--that exists in the industry. Several years ago, I was talking to a vendor of açai juice at the Natural Products West Expo. The thick, purple beverage contained a large portion of whole açai berries, including ground seeds, and offered a wealth of nutrients, from fiber and plant sterols to polyphenol antioxidants. It also tasted good...but not great. I mused that, in order to make the juice acceptable to a wider audience, other companies would likely strip the product of most to all of the whole berry and add back ingredients enhancing its sensory appeal. “We’ve found that our own customers don’t trust products that taste too good,” was the vendor’s reply.