Doehler Expands “Healthy Nutrition” Portfolio

01 Aug 2014 --- Doehler is further expanding its expertise in health & nutrition ingredients. The producer and provider of natural ingredients and ingredient systems is thus meeting the increasing demand for products with health-related added value. The market for these “better for me” products is booming more than ever before. Indication-related and reduced-calorie food and “free from” products no longer only appeal to specific consumer groups, but are increasingly breaking onto the mass market.

Thanks to an extensive portfolio of health & nutrition ingredients – including functional ingredients and innovative, reduced-calorie sweetening systems – combined with a high level of application expertise and knowledge of food law, Doehler is able to implement indication-related product concepts with ease.

The range of target groups for products with a health positioning is broad: from children and families to nutrition-conscious adults and athletes to the elderly. The latter are particularly health conscious and offer enormous market potential. Relevant indications such as a healthy heart or healthy bones are therefore currently by far the most popular product positionings, along with weight management and beauty. But as with any product, people only buy what tastes good. It is therefore down to manufacturers to develop products with top class sensory and technological properties which also meet the legal specifications. In addition to a high level of application expertise, this also requires comprehensive knowledge of the legal framework regarding claims, approvals and declarations.

The number of overweight people and associated illnesses is increasing rapidly all over the world. Many governments are taking action to combat this, either by levying a specific “penalty” tax on sugar, intended to limit its use in food, or by requiring drastic warning labels on food that is very high in sugar. An increasing number of manufacturers is therefore introducing reduced-sugar or completely sugar-free products to the market, which also meet consumer demands for healthy food. As a result, product claims involving calorie reduction are currently among the most successful ones. However, developing low-calorie products with a premium sensory profile is a huge challenge. Doehler offers contemporary sweetening systems that allow a range of positionings. The MultiSweet Plus portfolio extends from classic, calorie-free sweetening with high intensity sweeteners (HIS) and calorie-free natural sweeteners to fruit sweeteners made from fruit juice concentrates.

MultiSweet Classic is a combination of different high intensity sweeteners with a balanced sensory profile, which allows the sugar content to be reduced by up to 100%. For each product concept, Doehler provides tailor-made solutions and offers alternatives to sweeteners subject to criticism. For example, the company has developed solutions using the sweetener Advantam, which has recently received European approval.

In contrast, MultiSweet Stevia allows calorie-free sweetening on an all-natural basis. The number of product launches with stevia is increasing significantly at the moment, with an annual rise of around 60 per cent. The leading categories here are beverages and confectionery. Steviol glycosides are extracted from the leaves of the stevia rebaudiana plant and are 300 times sweeter than sugar, but beverage applications with Stevia are extremely complex. In order to achieve a product with the ideal sensory properties, different steviol glycosides are combined and the sweetening system is adapted to each individual customer recipe.

All-natural sweetening can also be achieved using MultiSweet Fruit. These deacidified and decolourised fruit sweeteners allow natural product positionings in the premium segment. For natural yet low-calorie recipes, MultiSweet Fruit and MultiSweet Stevia are the ideal combination.

The taste of the MultiSweet Plus line can be further optimised using Sweetness Improving Technology (SIT), a natural flavour technology. It is also possible to reduce the sugar content significantly in a natural way without using sweeteners thanks to Sugar Reduction Technology (SRT).

As a provider of an integrated solution approach, Doehler offers functional mixtures for any indication, positioning or product application desired. The mixtures already contain all the necessary ingredients and can be easily incorporated into the overall concept. This allows manufacturers to implement product concepts with a “beauty” positioning by using a mixture of hyaluronic acid, niacin and biotin, for example.

Doehler offers a wide range of indication-specific mixtures that permit certain product positionings and statements. For products supporting a healthy and athletic lifestyle, for example, a balanced blend with L-carnitine, magnesium and vitamin B6 is available.

Liquid protein solutions have been developed for beauty and sports products, as well as for food supporting muscle health in the 50-plus target group. The intrinsic taste of the proteins is masked or hidden using a special combination of ingredients, so there is almost no impact on the sensory profile. The functional mixtures are easy to integrate into the overall concept, both from a technological and sensory point of view.

More and more consumers are consciously buying “free from” products. For milk protein-free or lactose-free products, Doehler provides an almond base that is easy to process and produces a milk-like structure in the final product. It is characterised by a high level of stability in recipes with minerals or vitamins, too.

A survey carried out in the USA showed that nearly one third of adults eat a partially or fully gluten-free diet , underlining the potential of this type of product. For recipes in this segment, Doehler offers application-specific, gluten-free malt extracts, which can be used as natural flavour components, colours or sweeteners.

Naturalness and clean label are playing an ever-increasing role in functional products. Regulatory specifications place tough demands on recipe development. Doehler supports customer projects with a high level of technological expertise and assists in all questions regarding claims and legal framework conditions. The company combines divisions for colours, flavours and functional ingredients under one roof, giving it particular application expertise, which it provides for the creation of functional overall concepts.