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Whether it’s an apple-a-day or five-a-day, people know that
fruit does you good, and with the identification of an increasing
number of Superfruits, they know that some fruit offers even
more benefits than others.
Cranberries, Wild Blueberries, Acai and other Superfruits,
contain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, dietary
fibres and essential fatty acids, which consumers recognise
have positive implications for health.
“Consumers also understand that still more benefits can be
provided by functional ingredients,” says Commercial Director,
Kevin Matchett. “Ingredients which reduce cholesterol or
enhance calcium absorption, together with prebiotics, probiotics
and Omega3 have all become commonplace in recent years.
“We are seeing considerable and informed demand for healthy
eating products, and rising consumer expectations for... |
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...food & drinks with multiple nutritional benefits.
Surveys suggest that products need to offer at
least three distinct health benefits, to satisfy
current consumer requirements,” says Kevin.
“This implies that more and more new products
will contain a cocktail of natural and functional
ingredients in order to have an appropriate
nutritional profile.
“Fruit has a fantastic healthy image which makes
it the ideal carrier for functional ingredients; and
there is enormous market potential for functionally
enhanced fruit based products,” says Kevin. “Much
of our development work is focussed on combining
them together effectively, dealing with issues such
as the acid & heat stability of the functional
ingredients involved. |
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“Also, people want to know how much of a
Superfruit, or a functional ingredient, they need to
consume for it to do them good. So it is important
that evidence is made available to support health
claims,” says Kevin, “at JO Sims we are working to
offer an ever wider range of functionally enhanced
fruit, with an increasing number of measurable
benefits. New applications continue to come online,
so it’s not a question of if functionally enhanced
fruit becomes established in the market, just when.” |
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