By Kimberly J. Decker, Contributing Editor
Among baby boomers, a healthy market for functional foods of all sorts, there may be an audience for functional candies designed to boost both health and spirits. “More and more confections are getting the healthy treatment, whether it be from functional additions, or the confectionery ingredient itself, as with cocoa," says Erin O’Donnell, marketing manager, David Michael & Co., Philadelphia.
The usual suspects
Several of candy’s most-common components have nutritional merit. Chocolate—especially dark chocolate—is only the most prominent among them, receiving buckets of ink ballyhooing its antioxidants and potent phenolics. Nuts, too, get credit for their healthful monounsaturates, high-quality protein and fiber.
And those vaunted superfruits—everything from blueberries and pomegranate to açaí—always look good to a health-aware consumer. “Opportunities to use fruits, such as blueberries, to build up the healthy halo of confections provide exciting possibilities," says Jeannette Ferrary, spokesperson, U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council, San Francisco. “Taste-provoking ingredient pairings—chocolate and blueberries, blueberry with green tea, blueberry and flax, fig paste and blueberries, or blueberry and oatmeal—offer interesting vehicles to push confections into the healthy snacking arena."
New opportunities
When it comes to confections, consider fiber as a viable option. As Mar Nieto, Ph.D., senior principal scientist, TIC Gums, Belcamp, MD, says, “Currently, there is an enormous amount of information demonstrating the health benefits of fiber, both soluble and insoluble, in alleviating constipation, lowering cholesterol, improving glucose response in diabetics, promoting satiety and weight loss, boosting the immune system, and others.
“As consumers become more aware of the benefits of fiber through the media," Nieto continues, “food and drink manufacturers are seeking new sources of dietary fiber and new ways to incorporate these into products." Bran from oat, rice, barley and flaxseed; fruit and vegetable fibers; bamboo fiber; and other cellulose powders are gaining more use as insoluble fiber sources. “As soluble fiber," he says, “all sources fall under the group of gum polysaccharides, which traditionally are used for thickening, gelling, film-forming and emulsifying, but are now being promoted also for their health benefits."
Formula fine-tuning
But formulating functional fibers into candies isn’t always easy. “Candies are high-solids/low-water systems that are not favorable for gums," Nieto says. “Many gums will not be able to compete with sugar for water, and will be insoluble in these high-solids conditions," he says.
Protein fortification in the presence of fibers presents a tougher formulation task. “When adding protein ingredients and fibers, the biggest challenge is ingredient incompatibility," Nieto says. “Many gum fibers are incompatible with proteins. For instance, gum arabic is incompatible with milk protein and will cause flocculation. Hence, that is not a good gum to use when protein is present, or when used in milk-containing products like caramel candy." Gum arabic also interferes with gelling systems in jelly candies or fruit slices, preventing gel formation.
Then there’s the matter of processing’s effect on functional ingredients. “Nutrient degradation when adding nutrients like vitamins, omega-3 oils and antioxidants to a candy recipe is also a problem because of the high-heat processing required to make these products," Nieto says. “Hence, processors need to find a way to add heat-sensitive ingredients after the extreme heating steps are done."
Kimberly J. Decker, a California-based technical writer, has a B.S. in consumer food science with a minor in English from the University of California, Davis. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she enjoys eating and writing about food. You can reach her at kim@decker.net.
