Focusing on Digestive Health in New Product Development
Scientific research continues to encourage the use of fibers, prebiotics and probiotics for digestive health
Gut health is increasingly establishing itself within the food industry. Despite some ongoing issues regarding efficacy and definitions, the science behind gut health continues to encourage the use of fibers, prebiotics and probiotics for digestive health in a whole range of food and beverage products.
Digestive health was one of the key areas driving the functional foods boom in the 1980s. Nevertheless, it is continuing to generate interest as probiotics move further into the mainstream and awareness of the role of fibers and prebiotics in gut health is also boosting NPD. At the same time, interest in fermented foods has risen, not only because of their perceived digestive health benefits, but also because of their naturally processed image fitting well into current clean label and authenticity concerns.