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Kantha Shelke, PhD, CFS, is a senior lecturer at Johns Hopkins University and principal of Corvus Blue LLC, a Chicago-based food science and research firm specializing in industry competitive intelligence, expert witness services, and new product/technology development and commercialization of foods and food ingredients for health and wellness. Contact her at kantha@corvusblue.net.
Industry focus has been on technological and industrial applications of alternative proteins, but it is the understanding of safety aspects that will be the key to long-term success.
Breakfast items like cereals, omelets, and hash browns have become popular as snacks. Meeting this trend from the other direction, such comfort and enjoyment, coupled with convenience and variety, are increasingly repositioning snacks as replacements for meals.
Premixes range from the mandated vitamins and minerals for addressing nutrient shortfalls to trendy ingredients like turmeric, ginger, activated charcoal, collagen, and botanical bioactives that consumers believe are healthier for them.
Over the years, bars increasingly focused on health, meal replacement, weight management, and energy. But indulgent branding and product formulations are on the rise again. This turn toward the more extravagant can pave a lucrative path for innovative bar makers.
A comprehensive selection of flours and starches derived from ancient grains and seeds is increasingly being tapped for products that appeal to consumers seeking foods that are gluten-free or non-GMO, or simply have more healthful profiles.
Flours and starches are perhaps the hardest working ingredients in food manufacturing. For that reason, they’re ubiquitous in food products and relied on for their effect on texture, which is a signature attribute of many foods.
Trends such as non-GMO, gluten-free, sustainability, and various popular diets, are expanding the use of non-mainstream whole grains and seeds as well as other plant sources.
World of Gums and Fibers: Ingredient technologists and product developers are discovering that some ingredients are revealing valued nutritional attributes in a range of food products
The hunt for functional starches that perform beyond what traditional cereal-based starches deliver led to the development and use of starches from crops such as peas and chickpeas.
The Starch Set: The proliferation of plant-based products, especially those replacing animal products, has spurred an unparalleled demand for starches, fibers, and gums.
Starches, fibers, and gums are co-products constituting the majority composition of plant materials. They are emerging as destination ingredients in a market that is increasingly averse to synthetic ingredients and also questioning the regular use of animal-based ingredients.