When Upscale and Nutrition Collide

Incorporating these types of “enhanced nutrition” ingredients into food can be tricky—especially when the goal is gourmet, not medicine. “Suddenly, you have to deal with unpleasant odors, bad tastes and unpleasant mouthfeel that could turn the consumer off to your product,” Gutierrez says. “In the presence of water, as in beverages, you concern yourself much more with product stability, the need for preservatives and potential interactions between ingredients. In beverages, you are also limited by the extent of solubility of the ingredients that often prevents you from adding as much as you would like to your product.”

Many challenges are associated with incorporating multiple nutrients in a premix formulation, especially when high quality is key. “These include the type of finished product, as well as the desired taste, flavor and color of the finished product, solubility, bioavailability, pH level, safety and/or toxicity, interactions among various ingredients, and stability of the individual ingredients,” Chaudhari says. “Factors that can affect stability, for instance, include temperature, pH, oxygen, light and moisture, to name a few.”

One example of a potential interaction is combining thiamine with a sulfur-dioxide-containing fruit, such as pomegranate, berries, tropical fruits, cranberries or apples. “Some fruit purée preparations, which are concentrates of fruit juice and purée, may contain sulfur dioxide as a preservative, especially from imports. Thiamine plays an important role in helping the body metabolize carbohydrates and fat to produce energy, and helps to maintain proper functioning of the digestive system,” explains Chaudhari. “Combining this nutrient with a superfruit—which have become quite popular as a point of product differentiation and positioning a product as upscale—can possibly result in immediate degradation of thiamine, due to the fruit’s carry-over of sulfur dioxide. The level of sulfur dioxide should be determined prior to fortification, and appropriate overages should be added to compensate for losses.”

One way to minimize interactions is to separate vitamins and minerals into two individual premixes. Encapsulation of certain vitamins or minerals might be a different approach. In some cases, it might be wise to utilize a particular form of a specific ingredient. “Iodine’s ingredient form may be potassium iodide, magnesium’s may be magnesium phosphate, zinc’s may be zinc oxide, copper may be copper gluconate, and calcium’s could possibly be tricalcium phosphate, dependent upon what other ingredients are utilized in the premix,” says Chaudhari.

Once the technical hurdles are overcome, to further complicate development, Chaudhari says it’s important, depending on the target consumer, to determine the amount of nutrients to be added per serving to make a nutrient claim that gives a beneficial effect if consumed in moderation: “Regulatory aspects must be considered as a part of a new product-development process. Also, the stability of nutrients through shelf life must be verified prior to product launch.”

Gutierrez stresses the need to ensure that the product is as safe for the light eater as it is for the heavy eater who may consume several portions a day beyond the package recommendations. “This is particularly true if the product is viewed as a tasty food that is also good for you,” he says. “As a result, you see lower doses of active ingredients that may or may not offer therapeutic value to the consumer.”

Colleen Zammer, director of sales, FutureCeuticals, Inc., Momence, IL, makes the point that “some of the popular fruit extracts and powders in the market now in the superfruit category do contain high antioxidant levels, but not always more than the traditional fruits available. Blueberries and cranberries are proven superfruits. Their antioxidant levels are also significant, and in many cases higher than some of the more-exotic fruits.”

So if pure goji berry is beyond the reach of the targeted consumer, a goji-cranberry blend might satisfy the need for antioxidants without breaking the bank. It might prove more palatable, too.

Still, exotic is typically perceived as more upscale, and those consumers are always on the lookout for “the next big thing.” FutureCeuticals manufactures a coffee fruit that may provide unique product opportunities in teas, beverages or other foods. The mildly flavored coffee fruit is high in antioxidants, with 6,000 ORAC units per gram, and is available in granules, a liquid concentrate and a water-soluble extract. “It is very flexible for use in any kind of formulation,” says Zammer. “For maximum antioxidant potential, however, lower-temperature applications are best.”

Price points

In addition to safety concerns and formulation challenges, ingredient costs must be kept in line with finished-product pricing. With upscale, sometimes that means using less of a nutritional ingredient than might truly be desired.

“Many consumer groups comment on the fact that it is expensive to eat healthy,” says Zammer. “Fresh fruits and vegetables are costly to handle, and when those costs are transferred to the consumer, it is much more acceptable in an upscale offering.”

That said, demographics also play a role in upscale food choices. “This encompasses education levels and incomes and, at the higher end of each, you have a consumer that is bound to be more amenable to making more-nutritious food choices,” Zammer says. “That is not to say that, at so many levels, we are all tempted by not-so-healthy food choices. However, at the upscale level, often even the unhealthiest foods from a macro-nutrient standpoint are often made with higher-quality ingredients that render them slightly better for you than the more-processed foods found at the lower end of the spectrum.”

Combining higher nutritional quality with smaller portions may be key. Tapas, for example, are defined by small servings, and the traditional ingredients can provide many healthful combinations.

Beardsmore uses mini desserts as an example of how restaurants can be more creative and drive sales. “For example, the guest might be too full for dessert or may not want to indulge in a large dessert, but will spend $2 or $3 on a mini dessert as a treat without the guilt,” he says. “With mini or smaller, the key is a strong, impactful flavor. These items should be craveable.” A smaller size means that—even with some rich, indulgent ingredients—calories and fat grams consumed are lower.

“The portion should be a 2- to 3-oz. serving, or two to three bites,” Beardsmore advises. “I also think that there is a perception that smaller is healthier.” However, “eat three and you may find you could have had a full-sized dessert,” he warns.

Consumers need to rely on common sense. “The presence of healthy ingredients in a product does not make the product healthy,” says Gutierrez. Calories, fat content and sodium should still be monitored. But small indulgences can be a healthy choice.

Cindy Hazen, a 20-year veteran of the food industry, is a freelance writer based in Memphis, TN. She can be reached at cindyhazen@cs.com.