|
|
|
You can get e-magazine links on WhatsApp. Click here
|
|
|
|
|
|
Healthier snacking in India
|
|
Tuesday, 01 September, 2015, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
|
|
|
|
fiogf49gjkf0d Consumers in Asia love their snacks. Asia Pacific was the largest snack market in the world according to 2013 figures, and it is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR from 2014 to 2019.
In India, snacks sales are expected to remain high as they make convenient food options for busy, working adults. Additionally, sweet and savoury snacks are widely given as gifts in the country, further contributing to the high demand in this category.
While snacking is enjoyable and convenient, many snack products come with empty calories and high sugar content. Eating too much of these snacks may lead to obesity, excess weight related problems and diabetes. Also, they may not be efficient in providing the energy that we need to cope with everyday activities. Snacking itself is not a problem; if done right, snacking can even be part of a healthy lifestyle.
Benefitting the consumers
As food manufacturers improve their recipes and formulate their products with the following benefits, consumers in India will find that snacking can be done with a purpose too.
- Low fat/sugar or fat-free/sugar-free – Weight management is one of the most challenging health issues in India. A study revealed that one in five people are either obese or overweight in India[ http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/obesity-india-weighs-third-on-obesity-scale/1/365876.html ]. The food and beverage industry can play a pivotal role in fighting this challenge by offering better nutritionally balanced products. Reformulated products can contain less fat and sugar, while keeping the same texture and mouthfeel and staying as tasty as before.
- Added dietary fibres – Consumers are aware of the benefits of increasing the consumption of dietary fibre. However, they still generally find it hard to incorporate a sufficient amount in their diet. Currently, Singapore is the only country in Asia where consumers meet their daily recommended fibre intake. To reach the recommended level of dietary fibre intake and to maintain good digestive health, a balanced combination of natural fibre, such as wholegrain, vegetables and fruits, along with fibre-enriched food is needed. Food such as cereals and snack bars can be fortified with fibre, to offer quick and easy options for consumers looking to reach the daily required intake.
- Balanced blood glucose level – The increased incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes or obesity in recent years is not least attributable to the fact that our diet is nowadays increasingly high glycaemic. In India, 65.1 million people were diagnosed with diabetes in 2013, making it the country with the highest number of people with diabetes[ http://www.idf.org/sites/default/files/DA6_Regional_factsheets.pdf ]. Consequently, the overall aim is to achieve a lower glycaemic diet in order to delay or even prevent the onset of NCDs. The food industry can contribute to products supporting a balanced blood glucose level by using low- or non-glycaemic ingredients in their formulation.
Healthy snacking solutions
Food manufacturers need to take up the responsibility of educating and providing consumers with alternative snack products packed with smart nutrients. This is especially important in India where there is a high prevalence of pre-diabetes, diabetes, ‘overweight’ issues and even obesity especially in the urban regions. They can play a part by encouraging consumers to snack responsibly and aim for a daily diet that is balanced and healthy. Manufacturers can also develop healthier versions of snacks while retaining their taste and texture using innovative functional ingredients.
For instance, food ingredients naturally derived from chicory root, sugar beet and rice can enhance the nutritional profile of snack products. Both the sugar replacer isomalt from sugar beet and the chicory root fibres inulin and oligofructose help to reduce sugar either partially or entirely in final products. Having a mild sweet taste, reduced calories and good solubility, they can be easily applied into various products (bakery, cereals, confectionery, dairy, etc.). Additionally, inulin can act as a fat replacer. Being easily incorporated into moist or semi-moist food, it helps to stabilise water into a creamy structure providing a mouthfeel similar to fat. Also, rice starch helps to reduce fat in recipes by perfectly mimicking the feeling of fat globules in the mouth due to its granules being the smallest in the starch family. Hence it is ideal for fat reduced alternatives in food applications requiring a creamy texture, such as dairy products, soups, sauces, fat-based fillings and bakery products.
Beneo’s chicory root fibres also belong to the best researched prebiotics worldwide. While reducing sugar and fat, a comprehensive body of scientific studies confirms their beneficial effects on digestive health, weight management, blood glucose management, and bone health. Recent scientific studies have shown for example, that the company’s oligofructose and oligofructose-enriched inulin (Orafti Synergy1) help consumers to eat less naturally. They also help to close the so called “fibre-gap” in daily nutrition.
Furthermore, chicory root fibres as well as low glycaemic carbohydrates such as isomalt and Palatinose can help control blood glucose levels. As partially available carbohydrates (isomalt) or non-available carbohydrates (inulin and oligofructose), they reduce the overall glucose supply by sugar replacement. Meanwhile, the next generation sugar from beet sugar Palatinose (isomaltulose) modifies the glucose supply as it is a fully available, yet low glycaemic carbohydrate, which enters the body in a balanced and steady manner, thus providing sustained energy. The company received positive EFSA opinions for the blood glucose lowering properties of its oligofructose and inulin, as well as for Palatinose and isomalt with corresponding health claim approvals in the Annex of the Regulation 432/2012.
Snacking remains an important part of consumers’ daily eating and drinking behaviours. Yet, many consumers are looking for healthier snack alternatives. Food manufacturers that want to ride on this upward trend have multiple alternatives at hand that help to reformulate products and deliver better and healthier snack offerings.
(Contributed by Beneo, a company offering functional ingredients derived from chicory roots, beet sugar, rice and wheat)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|