Ultimately, no amount of nutrients are of benefit to the consumer if they are not bioavailable. “Fortification with calcium is popular, but its bioavailability is often questioned,” says Joseph O’Neill, executive vice president of sales and marketing, BENEO-Orafti Inc., Morris Plains, NJ. He recommends adding oligofructose-enriched inulin, which is said to enhance the body’s absorption of calcium.
Jonas suggests incorporating natural vitamin K2 in heart-healthy formulas. While this ingredient “helps direct calcium movement out of the arteries and into the bones, it is used in micrograms of active material,” he says.
Bugging the bars
Typically, probiotics are associated with dairy products, but adding these bacteria to bars can up the healthfulness ante. Probiotics are associated with promoting digestive health, boosting the immune system, and enhancing the synthesis of vitamins. However, to deliver what they promise, they must be viable. “Earlier probiotics did not survive processing and needed to be added to a coating,” says Jonas.
According to Mike Bush, vice president of business development for Ganeden Biotech, Mayfield Heights, OH, a high-survivability strain of bacteria now provides the bar manufacturer with greater options for inclusion. The company uses a patented strain of Bacillus coagulans, which, he says, “is able to survive the manufacturing process, the shelf life, and the harsh acids of the stomach, whereas other traditional strains of probiotics cannot survive all of those parameters.” Because this strain can grow in both the small and large intestines, it is successful in breaking down carbohydrates and can start working in the small intestine before the bacteria can make it to the large intestine and ferment. Poorly digested carbohydrates make their way into the large intestines, ferment and can cause numerous digestive disorders. This strain can survive in baked goods, hot beverages, cereals and even dry-soup mixes that are then prepared with boiling water.
“The No. 1 concern should be whether or not the strain is able to survive in the product you are adding it to,” says Bush. “Traditional probiotic strains such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium have very low survival levels on the shelf, and application options are very limited due to the very high levels of loss in even the most-gentle food-manufacturing process.” For a probiotic to have nutritional value, it must survive the manufacturing process, be stable during the product’s shelf life, and survive passage through the digestive system so it can grow to sufficient levels in the gut.
The stage to add probiotics into bars is dependent upon the manufacturing process and the strain. “In some cases, probiotics are added to chocolate or yogurt coatings to help stabilize the cultures, while others may be added directly to the bar material for ease of manufacturing,” says Bush. “The probiotic dosage depends on the stability of the strain, and what type of manufacturing process the manufacturer utilizes, but, typically, probiotics are administered in doses ranging from hundreds of millions to several billion CFU (colony forming units) per day.”
Fermentable fibers
Prebiotic fibers have many of the same properties as traditional fibers, but also provide additional health benefits, such as feeding probiotic bacteria.
“Studies by the University of Minnesota concluded that Larch arabinogalactan (LAG) enhances a healthy colon by acting as a food source for the growth of friendly bacteria—bifidobacteria and lactobacilli,” according to Bryan Rodriguez, technical marketing & scientific affairs manager, Lonza, Inc., Allendale, NJ. “Other LAG benefits include decreased pathogenic bacteria—E. coli, Salmonella and clostridia.”
Lonza’s LAG-based prebiotic fiber “functions as an emulsifier, humectant, processing aid and stabilizer,” says Rodriguez. “It retains moisture in baked goods and has improved dough-handling characteristics. Also, it is effective in lowering water activity in sweetener compositions. It provides film-forming properties for extended shelf life and tack-on aid.” He notes that the LAG ferments slowly, “offering few digestive tolerance issues, such as gas or bloating. It has also been shown that LAG has no impact on insulin or glucose.”
Adding powdered inulin and oligofructose to bars can “take fiber to a new nutrition level,” says O’Neill. “Some bars contain up to 9 grams of fiber per serving, with a fiber usage rate of 22% of the serving size. Not only are these ingredients a source of fiber, but they offer prebiotic properties, allowing for structure/function claims of good digestive health. Prebiotics also support a healthy immune function by boosting the body’s own natural defenses,” he says.
O’Neill suggests adding inulin and oligofructose as a replacement for a portion of the sugars in a bar. “The majority of the carbohydrates used in bars include fructose, sucrose, starches and maltodextrin, which can lead to bars that are very sweet. Not only will this reduce the sweetness, but it will lower the overall caloric value. These ingredients are 1.5 kcal per gram as compared to 4 kcal per gram for sugar.” One available sweet fiber syrup for use in the nutrition bar segment is a source of all-natural fiber, and acts as a functional binder and a source of sweetness, with sweetness levels 35% that of sugar.
Bring on the bran
Insoluble fibers, such as bran, can also be added to bars for their nutritional value and to increase satiety. Few people in the United States consume the recommended Daily Value of 25 grams of fiber for a 2,000 calorie-per-day diet (30 grams for a 2,500 calorie-per-day diet); the average U.S. dietary fiber intake is only 15 grams per day. Formulating a bar with 5.0 grams fiber or more per serving qualifies as an “excellent source” of fiber per the FDA, while a product with 2.5 to 5.0 grams qualifies as a “good source.”