Kimberly Breedlove, director of research & development at Pecan Deluxe Candy Co., Dallas, knows that a truly transcendent inclusion is worth hunting for. When one really hits the mark, she said, it “should make you want to dig around to find each piece and eat it first. It can be that little welcomed surprise you get when taking a bite of your favorite ice cream that makes you smile and brag about it to your friends and family.”
Consumers are all for omega-3s, but many don’t consume the recommended daily amounts. Dairy products are an excellent delivery vehicle, but fortifying dairy foods with the fatty acids is challenging on many levels.
Consumers are hooked on omega-3 fatty acids. And they are likely to stay on the line as research supporting omega-3s’ health benefits continues to amass.
In creating healthy foods, formulators often reduce fat and sugar, the very ingredients responsible for the attributes creamy, smooth and soft that consumers expect in dairy foods. What’s the solution? Texturants.
In September 2011, a study appeared in the journal Appetite reporting that texture, not flavor, best predicted the level of satiation that subjects expected from certain dairy products. In three separate experiments, the researchers wrote, product samples with the thicker texture — whether yogurt, custard or chocolate milk — rated higher for expected satiation than thinner ones.
All fibers fit — including isolated and synthesized/modified fibers. That’s the conclusion of the Institute of Medicine, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the World Health Organization/Food and Agricultural Organization of the United States (CODEX).