FOOD PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: Effectively Incorporating Color Rachel Adams

FORMULATING FOODS

Formulating Foods explores the latest health and nutrition news and research—as well as the latest ingredient and food application innovations—to determine what consumers want (and need) from the food and beverage products they consume, and how industry can make it happen. 

Effectively Incorporating Color

Rachel Adams

September 17, 2014 - Blog

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How a food looks can be a major deciding factor as to whether a consumer will try the product. In order to increase visual appeal, food and beverage designers turn to a toolbox of colors options—synthetic or natural—to keep foods looking fresh and appetizing.

In today’s clean-label word, consumers are increasingly seeking products free from artificial colors and dyes, causing a shift away from FD&C-certified colors toward more “natural" alternatives. In terms of revenues, the global market for natural colors was estimated to be worth approximately $732.1 million in 2011 and is expected to reach $1.3 billion by 2017, according to the MarketsandMarkets report, “Food Colors Market by Type, Application & Geography—Global Trends & Forecast to 2019."

Food is the largest application segment for natural colorants with more than 32 percent market share, followed by soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. The market for natural colors is likely to become competitive as manufacturers have begun using natural colors in many products.

Of course, the “natural" landscape can be challenging to navigate, as FDA does not define colors as natural or artificial. In fact, FDA considers any product with added color—with the exception of those that receive the color from the food itself—to be artificially colored.

From a consumer perspective, the color’s natural-versus-artificial status is often determined the ingredient’s labeling. Colors derived from carotenoids or anthocyanins, for example, often carry names representing their fruit, vegetable or spice origins. Other colors considered “natural" include Spirulina extract, caramel colors, carmine and cochineal extract.

Natural colorants, like synthetics, can present challenges during formulation. Careful consideration of the application, processing parameters, intended shelf life, and other considerations, can ensure the colors will perform as intended.
For example, in bakery applications, high temperature or extreme pH can have negative effects on color ingredients—whether natural or synthetic. Understanding where the color will be added during processing along with what other conditions the color will be exposed to is critical when adding colors to baked goods.

Coloring beverages, on the other hand, will present a different set of challenges. Ingredients interaction, shelf life, packaging and storage conditions must all be considered when selecting colors for beverages.

For a closer look at colors—including how to effectively formulate with both naturals and synthetics in bakery, dairy, beverages and fortified foods—download the free Digital Issue, “Colors Formulation Strategies," from Food Product Design.

HEALTH & WELLNESS: Sodium Intake: Too Little Poses Health Risks

FORMULATING FOODS

Formulating Foods explores the latest health and nutrition news and research—as well as the latest ingredient and food application innovations—to determine what consumers want (and need) from the food and beverage products they consume, and how industry can make it happen. 

Sodium Intake: Too Little Poses Health Risks

Rachel Adams

August 13, 2014 - Blog

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While too much salt in the diet has long been recognized as a serious health risk, new research has found eating too little may also pose health risks.

Two reports from a global collaborative study involving hundreds of investigators from 18 countries published in the New England Journal of Medicine are shaking up conventional wisdom around salt consumption.

The Prospective Urban & Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study, led by investigators from the Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, followed more than 100,000 people for nearly four years. The study assessed sodium and potassium intake and related them to blood pressure as well as to deaths, heart disease and strokes.

Lead author of one report, Martin O’Donnell, suggests that what is now generally recommended as a healthy daily ceiling for salt consumption appears to be set too low.

“Low sodium intake does reduce blood pressure modestly, compared to moderate (or average) intake, but low sodium intake also has other effects, including adverse elevations of certain hormones that are associated with an increase in risk of death and cardiovascular diseases. The key question is whether these competing physiologic effects result in net clinical benefit or not," O’Donnell said, an associate clinical professor at McMaster University and National University of Ireland Galway.

“In the PURE study, we found the lowest risk of death and cardiovascular events in those who consumed moderate amounts of sodium intake (3 to 6 grams per day), with an increased risk above and below that range. While this finding has been reported in previous smaller studies, PURE is the largest international study to study sodium intake and health outcomes, and adds considerable strength to the contention that moderate sodium intake is optimal," he said.

Nevertheless, sodium consumption is still well above recommended amounts around the globe. In the United States, the average daily sodium intake for Americans ages 2 years and older is more than 3,400 mg—a number considerably high than the cap of 2,300 mg recommended for adults by the 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Most of the sodium consumed comes from processed foods or foods prepared in restaurants. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 40 percent of sodium intake comes from 10 types of foods, including breads, meat products, pizza, soups and sandwiches, among others. Add FDA’s recent announcement to set voluntary guidelines to reduce sodium in the food supply, and food and beverage manufacturers are feeling the heat to reduce sodium in their products. (For a closer look at sodium in the food supply, check out this free FoodTech Toolbox report, “Reducing Sodium in the Food Supply: A Journey in Progress.")

This is, of course, is because high-sodium diets are associated with adverse health effects, such as heart disease and stroke.
Researchers have shown that the effects of increasing sodium intake on raising blood pressure—a risk factor for heart attack, heart failure, stroke and other problems—become dramatically worse as intake rises above 5 grams per day, especially among people who already have high blood pressure, or who are older than 55, or both.

But the blood-pressure effects are more modest at average levels of sodium consumption (3 to 5 grams per day) and not evident at low levels of intake below 3 grams of sodium per day (a level that is higher than the maximum currently recommended by many guidelines), said Andrew Mente, lead author of another report, and an assistant professor of clinical epidemiology and biostatistics.

“While there has been much focus on reducing salt in the diet, an important and ignored approach to lowering blood pressure is increasing the amount of potassium consumed. A balanced approach is what is likely to have the greatest benefit in lowering blood pressure," Mente said. “This can be achieved by moderation in salt intake, combined with eating lots of fruits and vegetables."

Taken together, the papers show there is a “sweet spot" for sodium consumption, where too much or too little can be damaging, while a moderate amount between 3 and 6 grams is optimal.

“The findings of both studies are robust, globally applicable and collectively question established dogma and recommended policies. This also means that salt reduction should be primarily targeted at those who have high BP and those who consume a lot of salt." said Salim Yusuf, principal investigator, PURE study, senior author of both reports, and director, Population Health Research Institute, which designed and coordinated the study.

Sources:

• Newswise: Salt Consumption Has a Sweet Spot: Too Little and Too Much Are Both Harmful, Researchers Find

INNOVATION: What’s Inside Matters

What’s Inside Matters

Judie Bizzozero

May 20, 2014 - Blogs

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Last week the International Food Information Council Foundation (IFIC) released its 2014 IFIC Foundation Food & Health Survey that provides insights from Americans on important food safety, nutrition and health-related topics. The 9^th annual survey examined how Americans view their own diets, their efforts to improve them, how they balance diet and exercise, their knowledge of food ingredients and components, their beliefs when it comes to food safety, and their behaviors across all of these fronts.

One of the most important findings was while taste and price consistently have been the top two factors that impact consumers’ food and beverage purchases, healthfulness in 2014 almost entirely closed the gap with price, rising from 61 percent of consumers in 2012 to 71 percent in 2014. In fact, consumers aged 18 to 34 years, who cite healthfulness as a driver of food and beverage purchases, increased from 55 percent in 2013 to 66 percent in 2014, significantly narrowing the gap with other age groups.

As consumers increasingly seek products that are healthy, safe, effective and sustainable, food and beverage formulators and marketers are charged with the task to differentiate their products and it all begins with ingredients. Yet, finding the latest information about new ingredients and their applications can be daunting. But we have the solution.

Ingredient Marketplace will take place June 2-3 in New York City and connects ingredient buyers and sellers to streamline the process for finding new ingredients and launching products. The food and beverage participation at the show continues to grow; from 2012 to 2013 there was an 89 percent increase in food and beverage individuals in attendance.

This year’s featured speaker is Gregory Jaffe, director, biotechnology project, Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), who will present “Biotechnology and the Future of the Ingredient Supply Chain." (Check out an exclusive preview of his presentation here.)

Taking place right in the Expo Hall, you will find the Ingredient Marketplace Trends In stage that delivers critical market information across nine hot ingredient categories. These 30-minute “Trends In …" presentations spotlight hot ingredient categories like Trends In Proteins, Trends In Sweeteners, Trends In Probiotics, Trends In Omega-3s, Trends in Antioxidants and more. These presentations will help formulators and marketers that are looking for ways to differentiate their products.

Also taking place at the Trends In stage is a new Ingredients IQ, an interactive, Jeopardy-style game that tests the knowledge of our industry professionals. This fun event is a must-see for attendees.

And finally, we know searching for the next innovative ingredient can be exhausting, so stop by the Drinks On Us Reception on the Expo Hall floor sponsored by Rochem International. It’s a great way to network with other attendees and, even better, it is included in the Marketplace Pass.

We hope to see you in the Big Apple next month. And remember, What’s Inside Matters when it comes to consumers’ food and beverage choices.