CLEAN AND GREEN Naturalness and transparency are key for today’s consumers who increasingly want to know what goes into their food, as well as how it’s made. When reading food product labels, shoppers these days are more discerning when choosing products that meet their requirements, and many are seeking ‘natural’ attributes that can be verified. Australia has led the charge in this area by implementing a new ‘country of origin’ food labelling system that prevents suppliers from being misleading. Similarly, consumers in Asia continue to rank statements such as ‘no artificial ingredients’, ‘no preservatives’ and ‘contains only natural ingredients’ high on their choices in decision making. Research shows that 94% of Indonesian and 91% of Thai respondents consider natural products as better. Clearly, there’s a broad trend towards simplicity in food item choices, and food manufacturers cannot ignore the fact that consumers are increasingly focused on ‘all things natural’, including clean label and recognisable ingredients made by nature, such as inulin and oligofructose obtained via a gentle hot water extraction method from chicory root. Weight management continues to be a key concern, but when implementing this tactic/approach, it is often ignored that effective weight management needs to go hand in hand with blood glucose management. Lower insulin levels 10 FEBRUARY 2017 are beneficial for the lowering of the risk of non-communicable diseases such as type II diabetes and obesity, but more often than not, sugars are replaced with high glycaemic ingredients which don’t help consumers in their efforts. Scientific studies have also shown that prebiotic fibres support weight management, with a particular focus on managing calorie intake. Indeed, oligofructose-enriched inulin and oligofructose have been proven to have beneficial effects on energy balance, as they help to reduce spontaneous caloric intake in those who consume a non-restricted diet. Food producers can lower calorie count by lowering sugar content in product formulation – by applying functional food ingredients such as sugar replacers or prebiotic fibres. More consumers today recognise that the way they look and feel is closely related to their digestive health. Seventy four percent of consumers in Indonesia and 80% in Thailand consider fibre as an ingredient that can help improve their digestive system. For many people, enhanced bowel function resulting from fibre intake means a noticeable improvement of gastrointestinal health and general wellbeing. By applying prebiotic fibre into their products, food manufacturers can help consumers secure an increase in fibre intake and improve their digestive health while Clean Label Solutions Scientifically Proven iIngredients Clean Label Solutions Scientifically Proven iIngredients wwwwwwwww...iiinnnvvviiitttaaa...cccooo...nnnzzz --- iiinnnfffooo@@@iiinnnvvviiitttaaa...cccooo...nnnzzz --- (((000999))) 222777222---222000999222 wwwwwwwww...iiinnnvvviiitttaaa...cccooo...nnnzzz --- iiinnnfffooo@@@iiinnnvvviiitttaaa...cccooo...nnnzzz --- (((000999))) 222777222---222000999222 FT232 A TREND FOR ASIA FOOD 2017 BENEO Asia Pacific managing director Christian Philippsen takes a look at what we can expect of Asia’s food industry in 2017 maintaining eating habits. Today’s consumers are knowledgeable about nutrition, and savvy when it comes to choosing and buying food items. The demand for functional ingredients that provide credible and scientifically backed health benefits to overcome the most important concerns such as weight management and diabetes will continue to grow. In addition, consumers will increasingly read labels before making purchasing decisions to ensure food products comply with their understanding of natural, simple and clean label products. Successful food manufacturers will be those that strive towards offering innovative products that can satisfy consumers in their demand for naturalness and transparency.
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