Carbohydrates and fibres (sugar, starches)

The future of ‘clean label’? Radically transparent and naturally healthy

17-Feb-2021 By Katy Askew

‘Clean label’ is an industry term that speaks to consumer demand for recognisable ‘pantry cupboard’ ingredients. But, without a clear definition, the meaning of clean label is evolving. What other mega-trends will shape the future of clean label innovation?

FREE WEBINAR: Hitting the Sweet Spot

16-Feb-2021 By Flora Southey

Register today for FoodNavigator’s FREE webinar exploring sugar reduction innovation in Europe.

Unilever and Kellogg discuss innovation priorities for 2021: From gut health to next gen plant proteins

09-Feb-2021 By Oliver Morrison

Kellogg Company and Unilever are calling on start-ups to help tackle some of the most critical issues facing the food and industry.

Food trends of the future where innovation opportunities are rife

04-Feb-2021 By Oliver Morrison

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, UK artisan chocolate brand Montezuma’s commissioned food anthropologist Caroline Hobkinson to predict food industry trends over the next two decades with a specific focus on chocolate.

Which sweet trends are predicted to stick in 2021?

01-Feb-2021 By Flora Southey

This year, consumers will embrace oat-based desserts, grow their fondness for Japanese cuisine – including mochi-flavoured doughnuts – and explore combinations of sweet, sour, salty, umami and pickled flavours, according to food futurologist Dr Morgaine...

Time for sodium alternatives to show they’re ‘worth their salt’

25-Jan-2021 By Oliver Morrison

Salt reduction needs to come out of the shadows, according to food artificial intelligence company Spoonshot.

Sugar blocker: Evolva’s new ingredient obstructs the body’s ability to digest sucrose

21-Jan-2021 By Flora Southey

Swiss biotech company Evolva is launching a natural sugar blocker for food and drink applications. L-arabinose is also a reducing sugar, the company’s head of investor and corporate relations tells FoodNavigator.

Beneo doubling down on the clean label mega trend

20-Jan-2021 By Oliver Morrison

Beneo predicts to see significant growth in the market for chicory root, sugar beet, wheat and rice starches as consumers in 2021 demand cleaner but also natural easily recognisable ‘cupboard ingredients’.

Origin labelling for honey blends on Slovenia’s presidency agenda: ‘EU producers can hardly compete with imported honey’

15-Jan-2021 By Flora Southey

When Slovenia takes on the presidency of the Council of the EU later this year, it wants to make origin labelling for honey blends more transparent. This would benefit producers and consumers alike, says the country’s food and agricultural chief, Darja...

New legume flour improves blood glucose response to white bread

13-Jan-2021 By Flora Southey

Researchers in the UK have developed a new flour made from chickpeas they claim can lower the glycaemic response in people eating white bread.

Ingredion launches organic instant functional native starch in Europe

11-Jan-2021 By Jim Cornall

Ingredion EMEA has developed an organic instant functional native starch, which can be used in certified organic products and delivers the quality of conventional ingredients.

‘The failed experiment of self-regulation’: UK urged to adopt robust approach to HFSS foods

07-Jan-2021 By Flora Southey

As the UK plans to dismantle Public Health England – in a move health expert Dr Anthony Laverty describes as ‘retrograde’ – the Government is being called on to take ‘bolder action’ to combat obesity.

Modified starch ‘ink’ developed for 3D printing: ‘They’re simple, cheap and easy to implement on an industrial scale’

10-Dec-2020 By Flora Southey

‘Ink’ used to make foods and novel materials by additive manufacturing have been developed by food engineers from modified starch.

Nestlé’s net zero roadmap: ‘We have no time to lose’

04-Dec-2020 By Katy Askew

Swiss food giant Nestlé wants to halve its emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050. “We have no time to lose,” CEO Mark Schneider told journalists at an event detailing how the company plans to get there.

‘Mega trends’ in clean label revealed: ‘It’s what’s not on the label that’s important’

26-Nov-2020 By Flora Southey

For today’s consumers ‘clean label’ is less about the ingredients featured back-of-pack and more about what isn’t listed, be it preservatives, genetically modified ingredients or artificial sweeteners, according to L.E.K. Consulting.

Beneo unveils new rice starch to exploit clean label’s expansion into the mainstream

23-Nov-2020 By Oliver Morrison

Ingredient manufacturer Beneo is expanding its range of native rice starches as it notes ‘clean label is no longer a trend, it’s mainstream’.

Unilever eyes €1bn plant-based sales and ‘positive nutrition’ push

19-Nov-2020 By Katy Askew

Unilever has said that it wants to increase its plant-based sales to €1bn and double the number of its products that deliver ‘positive nutrition’.

From immunity and sustainability to plant-based and clean label: Top trends out in force at Fi Europe CONNECT 2020

18-Nov-2020 By Katy Askew

Fi Europe is a red-letter event for the European food sector. This year, COVID-19 means things will be a little different. But the need to share ideas and innovation – as well as networking and business opportunities – has ‘never been more important’.

EU soft drinks achieve 14.6% reduction in added sugars

17-Nov-2020 By Rachel Arthur

Europe’s soft drinks industry has reduced added sugars in drinks by an average of 14.6% between 2015 and 2019; contributing to a reduction of 26% since 2000.

Supplier spots opportunity for healthier ready meals

10-Nov-2020 By Oliver Morrison

Cham Foods believes the ready meal sector is ripe for innovation.

Tate & Lyle builds out texturant portfolio with tapioca M&A

30-Oct-2020 By Flora Southey

The ingredients supplier is acquiring an 85% shareholding in Chaodee Modified Starch Co, a tapioca modified food starch manufacturer in Thailand, to grow its texturant portfolio.

Meet the 7 brands promising to disrupt the healthy snacking space

21-Oct-2020 By Oliver Morrison

A business accelerator fund has handpicked a group of start-ups it believes can help tackle the UK’s childhood obesity problem.

How innovation can boost the ‘overlooked’ and ‘undervalued’ health benefits of cereals

15-Oct-2020 By Katy Askew

Cereal crops like maize and wheat deserve greater consideration as part of a healthy, nutritious diet, according to a new paper. FoodNavigator caught up with the authors to learn why.

Kerry spots opportunities for gut health and food protection solutions as it targets net zero emissions by 2050

09-Oct-2020 By Oliver Morrison

Ingredients supplier Kerry Group has unveiled an ambitious sustainability strategy including a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 33% by 2030 and achieve net zero before 2050. It is also exploring those sectors such as immunity and food...

'Everybody should drink ketones — not just elite cyclists'

08-Oct-2020 By Oliver Morrison

Ketone drinks have been embraced by professional athletes looking to boost their performance. But these ‘magic potions’ have the potential for mass appeal, believes the scientist who helped develop them, although taste and price remain huge barriers in...

Sugar reduction scheme a ‘Soviet-style diktat’

07-Oct-2020 By Oliver Morrison

Critics have rounded on the UK government’s voluntary sugar reduction plan -- which calls for a 20% cut from the food industry in key products by the end of this year -- after a report revealed it is heading for failure.

Firmenich and Novozymes partner on sugar reduction

07-Oct-2020 By Jim Cornall

Firmenich, the world’s largest privately-owned perfume and taste company, and Danish biological solution leader Novozymes, have launched their new, jointly-developed natural sugar reduction solution: TasteGEM SWL with Saphera lactase.

Azucarera creates first-of-its kind palm oil-free sugar coating

05-Oct-2020 By Oliver Morrison

Spanish sugar maker Azucarera has created a moisture-resistant bakery coating which it claims is the only ingredient of this kind in the market that does not contain palm oil.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Subway rolls too sugary to legally be called bread, rules Irish Supreme Court

02-Oct-2020 By Flora Southey

In Ireland, a supreme court judge rules Subway’s ‘bread’ contains too much sugar for it to be categorised as such.

Kraft Heinz on the ‘constant balance’ of salt reduction: ‘We can’t go too fast, or too slow’

02-Oct-2020 By Flora Southey

The beans and ketchup manufacturer employs two key strategies to cut salt in its core products, Kathy La Macchia, Head of Nutrition, Consumer Science and Culinary at Kraft Heinz EMEA tells FoodNavigator, “and we’ve had some huge successes”.

Cracking the clean label conundrum: Beneo discusses tapping consumer desire for fewer ingredients and improved nutritional profiles

28-Sep-2020 By Oliver Morrison

There has been a global shift among consumers towards clean and clearer labels that promote natural claims, and a willingness to pay a premium for products that do so, notes functional ingredient manufacturer Beneo.

Sugarcane waste upcycled into plastic-free packaging: ‘Dispose SupraPulp the same way you would your salad’

22-Sep-2020 By Flora Southey

Made from upcycled sugarcane waste, the ‘fully compostable’ offering can be used for greasy, wet, or hot food. FoodNavigator speaks to W-Cycle co-founder Joseph Siani to find out more.

Huel aims to scoop ‘time-poor, health conscious consumers’ with new hot meals

18-Sep-2020 By Oliver Morrison

Meal replacement brand Huel is expanding its powdered food range and launching its first hot meals in the UK.

Bite-sized NPD: The latest in kids snacking to hit UK shelves

16-Sep-2020 By Flora Southey

How can brands encourage children to eat ‘healthier’ snacks? Nestlé’s approach is to create breakfast cereal in the shape of a bear, Cadbury is shrinking its portion sizes to cut calories, and Kellogg is personalising covers on Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies.

Fruit snacks under fire: Is Action on Sugar's call for 'honest labelling' justified?

16-Sep-2020 By Oliver Morrison

Action on Sugar wants a ban on the use of claims such as 'one of your five a day', 'naturally occurring sugars' or 'made from real fruit' on fruit snacks for children that can contain the equivalent of five teaspoons of sugar....

Ground-breaking trial gives new hope for peanut allergies

15-Sep-2020 By Oliver Morrison

A trial suggests that oral immunotherapy treatment, which involves repeated exposure over time to gradually increase doses of the allergen, could allow sufferers to increase their tolerance to peanuts. They would not be able to eat nuts at will, but their...

Balancing health with price: six ways food and beverage innovation is evolving in the COVID-19 era

14-Sep-2020 By Oliver Morrison

ADM has identified six emerging behavioral changes that will power innovation and growth in the months ahead.

The key to healthy and sustainable diets… more processed foods?

09-Sep-2020 By Oliver Morrison

Opportunities abound for the food industry to address public health and environmental issues through clever food processing, say nutrition scientists.

UK weight-loss diet plan sparks fortification versus clean label debate

07-Sep-2020 By Oliver Morrison

A soup and shake weight-loss diet prescribed by the UK National Health Service to tackle type 2 diabetes has stirred a row over long ingredients lists.

Healthy eating takes lockdown hit: IGD

02-Sep-2020 By Katy Askew

People feel that their diets have got worse during the coronavirus lockdown. And, while more people say health is an important purchase motivator, fewer consumers are going to make healthy changes to their diets, according to IGD data.

The FoodNavigator Podcast: Sugar reformulation part 2: The taste conundrum

14-Aug-2020 By Oliver Morrison

The food industry is under pressure to reformulate products with less sugar. The UK has a voluntary target for manufacturers to meet a 20% cut in sugar by 2020. This is unlikely to be met and campaigners are increasingly demanding that mandatory sugar...

Grain fermentation can produce a cost-effective, vegan alternative to B12 fortification

10-Aug-2020 By Oliver Morrison

Grains fermented with Propionibacterium freudenreichii – the bacteria usually used as a ripening culture in Swiss-type cheese -- have enough vitamin B12 to be nutritionally significant and could potentially be cheaper than fortification, according to...

Mondelēz still committed to reducing pack sizes after latest ‘shrinkflation’ row

24-Jul-2020 By Oliver Morrison

Cadbury-owner Mondelēz International says it remains committed to reformulation via reducing portion sizes after a backlash over its move to shrink the sizes of all Cadbury chocolate bars sold in multipacks in the UK without changing the price.

Coca-Cola to streamline its innovation pipeline after ‘toughest and most complex’ period ever

22-Jul-2020 By Oliver Morrison

The snacks and beverage giant says it will cut a number of its zombie brands and focus on ‘fewer but bigger and stronger’ products after its second-quarter sales fell 27% year-on-year - the sharpest quarterly sales drop in a decade.

GoodMills Innovation launches healthy aging and immunity boosting wheat germ concentrate: 'We see enormous potential in everyday foods'

21-Jul-2020 By Katy Askew

Hamburg-based ingredient supplier GoodMills Innovation is introducing SpermidinEVO, a new wheat germ concentrate with ‘added health benefits’. Johanna Imbeck, Project Manager, tells FoodNavigator the launch comes as consumer concern over healthy ageing...

FoodNavigator

Resources