Since then, knowledge about the benefits of fiber has not diminished. In his paper “Dietary Fiber: The Influence of Definition on Analysis and Regulation,” published in the May/June 2004 edition of the Journal of AOAC International, Jonathan DeVries writes: “if it were not for the physiological effects of dietary fiber, there would be no interest in the subject on the part of researchers, consumers, regulators and manufacturers.” DeVries specifically addresses the beneficial physiological role of fiber in laxation, blood cholesterol and blood glucose attenuation. Within the blood cholesterol category, high-fiber diets have been shown to reduce cholesterol in both normal and overweight individuals, indicating the role of oat fiber particularly in reducing LDL-C in conjunction with a reduced-fat diet. Diets high in soluble fiber appear to “exhibit the highest therapeutic effect” among individuals with diabetes, with fiber appearing to slow the rise in serum glucose.
Given the current body of scientific evidence and the rise in incidences of chronic diseases, particularly obesity and diabetes, integrating fiber ingredients into products appears to be a winning proposition. With this in mind, Mintel International’s Global New Products Database (GNPD, Chicago) was queried to examine how manufacturers have formulated and marketed fiber, and what trends are emerging. Queries for statistics in this article, unless otherwise indicated, were conducted for the period of December 2003 through mid-January 2005, with prior years examined for comparative purposes only. Searches were restricted to North America and for only new food and drink product introductions (not for reformulated, relaunched, repackaged products or line extensions).