Herbs are easy to categorize as natural, Gutierrez says, even when dealing with the herbal extracts, but it begins to become more complicated with vitamins. Some are available in natural grades, but they are often not commercially available or economically attractive. “Others, like vitamin B12, begin with natural ingredients, but after a fermentation process and numerous chemical reactions, it is hard to consider the final product as all-natural,” he says. The same holds for many amino acids. Processing begins with well-known starting ingredients, such as sucrose, but they undergo numerous chemical reactions to create the final active ingredients as we know them.
It’s safe to say that many new beverages will be made more palatable with the inclusion of rebaudioside A, a sweetener derived from the Stevia rebiana plant that recently got the go-ahead from FDA. While the sweetener doesn’t make claim to any health benefits per se, it does provide sweetness without excessive calories, unlike other natural sweeteners currently on the market.
Niche markets
Myriad ingredients can be added to beverages. Protein additions are mostly concentrated in soy and dairy beverages, such as smoothies and yogurt-like beverages. These beverages appeal to those looking for a protein boost, such as athletes, and to women experiencing peri- and menopausal symptoms, who can benefit from soy protein and its isoflavones.
Beverages with fiber added are attractive to those with digestive disorders and those concerned with weight management. Although many fiber ingredients are completely dissolvable and have no flavor, fiber-enriched beverages are more likely to show up in the supplement and pharmaceutical markets.
Juices, including powders and concentrates, are the first ingredients of choice. Of special importance are the “superfruits,” which are often produced in lower volume, but have a high value and attract a high-end niche. These products are naturally high in antioxidants and provide other nutritional benefits.
For the weight-loss market, an extract from the South Asian fruit Garcinia cambogia has been clinically shown in several studies to induce satiety, suppress appetite and inhibit fat production without stimulating the central nervous system, according to InterHealth Nutraceuticals, Inc., Benecia, CA. One clinical study showed that overweight people taking 500 mg of InterHealth’s Garcinia cambogia extract in juice three times per day for two weeks sustained satiety while significantly reduced caloric intake by 15% to 30% compared to the control (International Journal of Obesity, 2002;26:870-872).
Maltodextrins act an energy source in many nutraceutical beverages. They have a low osmolality, are a readily digestible source of carbohydrate and are often used to add body to beverages, providing them with a richer mouthfeel. They help round-out the flavor profile of a beverage, moderate sweetness, have a clean flavor profile, provide good clarity in both dry mixes and aseptically processed beverages, and are safe for those with celiac disease.
“What is really advantageous about maltodextrins in beverages is the low osmolality trait,” explains Susan Freers, technical manager, pharmaceutical/personal care applications, Grain Processing Corp., Muscatine, IA. “If, for example, you are an athlete and consume a beverage with high osmolality, you might be in danger of dangerous dehydration since that beverage would pull the fluid out of your tissues. With the lower osmolality, you can get more energy into the athlete, or patient in a hospital, without risk of dehydration.” Maltodextrins are often used in beverages geared to athletes and for hospital supplements.
While―other than legal constraints for foods and dietary supplements―there’s not too many limits on what goes into a nutraceutical beverage, “Consumers still need to rely on their common sense,” cautions Gutierrez. “The presence of healthy ingredients in a product does not make the product healthy. You should still monitor calories, fat, sodium content, etc., and eat what is truly healthy.” Beverages, he says, often contain less of the desired ingredients than what you would find in a supplement, or even in the natural food product.
“This results from high costs and formulation challenges that prevent you from including what you would like, or from safety concerns,” says Gutierrez. “The beverage manufacturer needs to ensure that the product is as safe for the occasional consumer as it is for the heavy consumer who may consume several servings a day beyond the label recommendations.”
Still, the choices for nutraceutical beverages are almost unlimited. But, in the end, “there are places for all value levers like ‘lesser evil,’ organic, non-GMO, enriched, etc., but it all comes down to taste and value,” says Reid. “No matter what, it still has to taste good.......and in toady’s tough economic times, the consumer needs to feel that it is worth the price they pay to get it.”
Nancy Backas is a Chicago-based freelance writer and chef. She has been writing about food and the foodservice industry for more than 20 years and can be reached at
nback@prodigy.net.