Q: What do the car industry and reduced calorie beverages have in common? A: Tribology, or the science of interactive surfaces in relative motion, according to Cargill, which is using it to determine the textural characteristics to be rebuilt in reduced...
Consensus Action on Salt & Health (CASH), a leading UK health group which campaigns for reduced levels of salt in processed foods has welcomed the targets announced in the Public Health Responsibility Deal for food, published by health secretary Andrew...
A major stakeholder in the European Union Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health that has established 297 individual commitments to improve the health of Europeans in the six years of its existence, has highlighted its effectiveness.
Ten years after the first European Commission reports were handed in, with little in the way of demonstrable obesity-reduction results, the European Union Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health is taking “a flexible approach” over coming years...
With food manufacturers busy reformulating or developing products to cut ‘nasties’ such as salt and sugar, Leatherhead Food Research has warned that associated food safety issues should not be an afterthought.
Producing an easy to manufacture, commercially acceptable low salt cheese requires better knowledge of the effects of salt on processing techniques and drivers of consumer acceptance, according to a new review.
Major EU food manufacturers continue to offer low- or no fat products as a consumer option alongside goods higher in fat, while the trend towards healthier food launches along these lines has remained flat or even declined in some states.
Healthier products are not just about the low fat alternatives. Even if there are some gulps at the cost of reducing saturated fat across mainstream ranges, it is worthwhile when consumers cannot taste any difference, say manufacturers.
Fats play such an important functional role in foods that it is difficult to simply remove or replace them. But by understanding the specific functional roles of fats in a product, it may be possible to tailor solutions that match full fat products, say...
Dairy products have become a target for food policy makers eager to put their populations on a low-fat diet but there is some debate about how best to achieve this and whether it is really desirable.
The NutraSweet Company's sales of high intensity sweetener neotame grew by 20 per cent between 2009 and 2010 – and the same percentage is expected this year as sugar prices are expected to keep rising due to short supplies.
Consuming highly salty foods may begin to impair the functioning of blood vessels within 30 minutes, according to new research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Scientists at Nizo food research have worked with Vion Food group and FrieslandCampina to develop a natural method of reducing salt levels in cheese and meat products.
Children’s knowledge and consumption of fast food has a significant impact on their palate and preference for foods that are high in added sugars, salt and fats, according to new research.
New research suggests that reductions in the sodium content of dairy foods may be more noticeable in simpler products and require appropriate labelling to be acceptable to consumer taste buds.
Deep pan, stuffed crust or frozen supermarket pizzas – particularly budget options – may be a healthier alternative to thin-based or fresh varieties for health-conscious consumers, according to consumer watchdog Which?
The firm behind a new breed of microscopic salt crystals that is helping manufacturers slash sodium and retain their clean-labels has branched out into the retail market with the development of a consumer product called Solti.
US firm DairiConcepts has launced a new EU-certified clean label sodium-reducing flavour enhancer as it targets “increasingly health conscious” consumers worldwide.
Hochdorf Nutrifood has launched two low-fat meat applications using its lupin-seed based ingredient Lupidor, to cater for a “key weight management trend” in the EU.
Sources within the Danish food industry have criticised the country’s new blanket tax on saturated fats in foods, claiming it will harm productivity and could even worsen the population’s health.
Salty odours may improve the salty taste intensity and consumer acceptance of low salt foods by increasing the perception of salty flavours, according to new research from Unilever.
A new lupin seed-based protein isolate developed for use in low fat sauages could help cure the EU's obesity epidemic, according to researchers at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute.
Certain sea salts with high salty flavour intensity or lower sodium content may be used to lower sodium levels in food formulations, according to new research.
Low salt diets can help diabetics quickly cut blood pressure and reduce the risk of developing kidney disease, according to a new study from the Cochrane Collaboration Renal Group.
Reductions of up to 50 per cent sodium content in food may be achievable with only minor decrease in liking and no effect on consumption of the food, according to new research.
Imitation cheese with 60 per cent less sodium may be just as accepted in terms of sensory and functional properties compared to full salt versions, according to new research.
Levels of fat and sugar could be lowered in foods for children without having an impact on palatability, however salt reduction should be “considered cautiously”, according to new research.
Salt plays an important role in governing the structure and textures of lipid emulsions, due to electrostatic interactions between sodium chloride and lipid particles, according to new research.
A low salt substitute from plants could be used to reduce levels of sodium in food products by around 43 per cent, without affecting salty tastes, according to new a new study.
Encapsulating oils with alginates may slow the digestion of the lipids in the intestines and help formulate foods with controlled fat release and weight management potential, says a new study from Unilever R&D Colworth.
Reducing salt in food products is a key challenge for the industry, but reducing salt can impact consumer perceptions of taste and preference. Is it possible to maintain, or boost salt intensity and flavours, whilst reducing actual salt levels?
Some consumers perceive healthy food ingredients such as garlic more negatively than traditional poorly perceived additives such as GM, according to a top UK food research organisation.
Formulating reduced fat chocolate using defatted cocoa powder may indeed by the ‘best compromise’ for confectionery producers, says a new study from Nestlé Product Technology.
Ice creams with added pre- or probiotics can be formulated to have good nutritional and sensory properties, according to research, with careful balancing of the recipe to ensure acceptable taste, texture and colour.
Oat dextrine yields similar physical properties in low fat mayonnaise to those of a full-fat version, but taste and texture issues need to be addressed.
Safety concerns over artificial sweeteners and the expiry of patents mean that sales volumes could soon be overtaken by polyols, says a leading market research firm.
Fortifying cheese curds with polyphenolic compounds such as EGCG from tea may produce cheese products with enhanced nutritional value, indicates new research.
Magazine adverts for follow-on formula containing prebiotics and omega-3s have been rapped in the UK for making brain health claims unauthorised by the European Union nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR).
Suppliers and stakeholders in the stevia industry are organising to maintain standards and pursue scientific enquiry into the use of stevia sweeteners. But two trade organisations have been announced this week, with very different membership criteria...
Consumption of prebiotic fibre early in life could offer some protection from obesity later in life, if they results of a rat study hold true for humans.
Food ingredients giant Cargill says there is "extensive" European interest in its natural stevia-based sweetener Truvia Rebiana, ahead of anticipated approval from the EU Commission for use of steviol glycosides as food ingredients.
In the first part of this Asia-focused special edition, we look to the innovation hotbed that is Japan. Japan is well known as the world’s functional foods birthplace when Yakult kicked into life there in the 1950s with its little bottles of immune boosting,...
Leading food firms have teamed up with multi-disciplinary researchers in the UK on a range of new projects designed to uncover links between diet and health.
The University of Reading in the UK has been awarded a grant of almost £300,000 to research ways of reducing the saturated fat content of milk without increasing trans fat production.
