Once relegated primarily to the domain of yoghurt and high-fibre fare, the market for food and beverage products fortified with probiotics and prebiotics has taken off as digestive health emerged as one of the hottest topics in the food and beverage arena.According to latest report from market researcher Packaged Facts, Boosting Immunity Through Digestion: The Relation Among Probiotics, Prebiotics and Digestive Enzymes, the global retail market for probiotic/prebiotic foods and beverages was US$15... ...Read more »

Food manufacturers are mainly focusing on digestive and cardiovascular health when releasing functional food products, according to the latest market data.Digestive health was the lead focus in 23 out of 24 countries tracked by Mintel’s Global New Products Database (GNPD), with America the only exception to the rule. The analysis showed digestive health product launches more than doubled those of the second most common claim – cardiovascular benefits – from 2005 to 2009. The top... ...Read more »

Research on the disease-preventing, health-promoting benefits of meat and meat products makes them a viable contender in the functional food arena, according to the Institute of Food Technologists. Enriching meats with fibre, probiotics and omega-3 fatty acids could help consumers readily associate meat with a healthy lifestyle. “Meat contains many important nutrients, including bioactive compounds such as taurine, L-carnitine, creatine, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and endogenous antioxidants,”... ...Read more »

Food and beverage firms in Europe are discovering exciting new options for prebiotics in infant formula products, dairy and beverages and expanding prebiotic ingredients into new application sectors such as snack products and meat products as consumer demand grows. New prebiotic ingredients with unique functional properties are entering the prebiotics market and the importance of prebiotic fibres as opposed to general fibres is steadily increasing in market applications. The food industry remains... ...Read more »

The European heart health ingredients market is developing lucratively due to the growth in the functional foods sector, triggered by a global fitness fad among consumers. Extensive media coverage has heightened consumer awareness about the fatality of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and the ill effects of obesity, heightening interest towards low fat and heart-healthy food products. New research from Frost & Sullivan, European Heart Health Ingredients Market, finds that the market earned revenues... ...Read more »

New research from Massey’s Institute of Food, Health and Human Nutrition in New Zealand has discovered that omega-3 capsules can provide a similar boost of the fatty acid but lack other nutrients offered by one of the world’s richest sources of omega-3 – Salmon. The popularity of omega-3 has escalated over recent years as the health benefits of the nutrient have come to light, with food and supplement producers looking to add a healthy boost to their products. Researchers at Massey’s... ...Read more »

The health and wellness boom has been inextricably linked to the beauty industry this year, as food and drink consumers happily enjoyed as part of a healthy diet (e.g. superfruits and green tea) started to regularly appear in beauty products. Next year, we can expect to see food and beauty become even more intertwined, according to market intelligence firm Mintel. Mintel expects ‘good-for-you’ food ingredients, such as probiotics, to increasingly show up in our cosmetics and skincare... ...Read more »

Over two-thirds of consumers report they are now aware of Omega-3 fatty acids, and over a third routinely consume products with Omega-3. The net result is an average annual increase in the Omega-3 product market of over 30 per cent since 2000, but skeptics remain about the true success of Omega-3 fortified products. Market analysts Frost & Sullivan recently completed a whitepaper entitled ‘Flax-based Omega-3 Alpha Linolenic Acid: The Shape of Things to Come’ that highlights the key... ...Read more »

The ability to distinguish between food and medicine has become increasingly difficult as a wave of functional foods and “superfoods” hit supermarket shelves. Such inability to distinguish the line between what constitutes food and medicine has enabled some marketers of superfoods to get away with making prohibited health claims because of poor policing and loopholes in the law, a consumer advisor to the therapeutic goods regulator told the Sydney Morning Herald. Following extensive consultation... ...Read more »

Prebiotics, known for their ability to improve intestinal regularity, appear to be slowly stepping out of the shadow of probiotics as more options become available to manufacturers. Buoyed by positive scientific data, prebiotics such as fructans are making their mark in the prebiotics market. Following in their footsteps are a new set of prebiotics, such as mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS), galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) and xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS), which rely on the same marketing methods to garner... ...Read more »