Limagrain Ingredients launches fiber-rich wheat flour to counter Europeans’ low dietary fiber intake

24 Jun 2021 --- Limagrain Ingredients is launching a new fiber-rich wheat flour called LifyWheat that “helps fill the fiber gap.” 

The white wheat flour is reportedly ten times richer in fibers than standard fibers and contains resistant starch. Two decades in the making, LifyWheat allows for an increase in cereal products’ fiber content “without any compromise on taste texture or diet habits.”

“LifyWheat provides a practical response to the expectation of consumers looking for health, naturalness and transparency. Actors in the fiber sector have to comply with these strong trends,” Anne Lionnet, business developer at Limagrain Ingredients, tells NutritionInsight.

She also shares how Europeans lack a comprehensive understanding of different fiber types and their health benefits, leading to low daily fiber intake “undoubtedly” becoming a public health issue. 

Limagrain is launching LifyWheat, a white wheat flour “ten times richer in fibers.”Moreover, the company is launching an online European awareness campaign called “Eat Fibre, Feel Better” to raise awareness of inadequate dietary fiber consumption and stimulate public discussion on these issues.

Ahead of the press event, NutritionInsight speaks with Lionnet about the company’s preliminary results from consumer research and key messages the event aims to communicate. 

Responding to R&D challenges
According to Innova Market Insights data, the use of dietary fiber ingredients in F&B launches is decreasing globally, featuring a 4 percent year-over-year decline when comparing 2019 and 2020 launches.

Increasing fiber levels in food products is easier said than done. “Food producers may face technological constraints, color acceptance, texture or taste modification adding extra fibers. This is a real challenge,” Lionnet flags.

“Thanks to its high content in resistant starch, LifyWheat can replace part of the digestible starch by resistant starch and contributes to a reduction of the after-meal blood sugar,” Lionnet explains.

Moreover, Limagrain maintains the new wheat supports a robust immune system by feeding the beneficial bacteria to the gut microbiota without adverse side effects.

Know your fiber
As part of the Eat Fibre, Feel Better campaign, Limagrain Ingredients is leading a European consumer survey on dietary fibers, producing preliminary results of a quantitative phase from participants in Italy, the UK and Germany. 

Consumers from these three countries mostly associate fiber with whole grain products. For nearly half of the respondents, the “pragmatic approach prevails,” says Lionnet. “In other words, it doesn’t matter how fiber [is present], as long as it is there.” 

“Broadly speaking, fiber is associated with wholegrains – oats, barely, wheat, bran and spelt, but also vegetables, legumes and potatoes and to a lesser extent oranges or nuts,” she adds. 

Moreover, fibers are mainly associated with breakfast, leading to bran being the best-known fiber type. Eighty-eight percent of Italians, 61 percent of Germans and 76 percent of British respondents identified bran as a source of fiber.

Lionnet is Limagrain’s business developer and also in charge of LifyWheat’s European development.More than just gut health
Gut transit, digestion, weight management and strengthening of the immune system are four of the best-understood health benefits of fiber, according to the preliminary results.

“Another key finding is that respondents associate fiber with microbiota. Respondents agree on the positive impact of high-fiber products on the gut microbiota in the gut and call them ‘good bacteria’ in all three countries,” Lionnet details.

However, she flags this basic knowledge on fiber does not include specific awareness of health recommendations concerning a daily intake of fiber.

In collaboration with the Centre de Recherche pour l’Etude et l’Observation des Conditions de Vie (CREDOC), this research is renewed every three years. 

Limagrain will conclude the qualitative phase, involving consumer insights from France, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands and Sweden, at the end of the year.

In Europe and beyond
Limagrain’s previous wheat expansion activities are rooted in Europe. Last year, the functional flour specialist invested over €9 million (US$10.6 million) in its wheat production site in France to produce almost 15,000 metric tons of functional flour across Europe.

The company also partnered with Arista Cereal Technologies to market a new wheat ingredient in Europe, following reports that its fiber-rich wheat ingredient has performed well in its first year in US retail stores. 

However, Limagrain’s ambitions are not limited to Europe. Lionnet shares the company has struck a first partnership with flour miller Nisshin Seifun Group in Japan.

“Japan was a priority country, since the Japanese population is relatively aged, and quite aware about healthy food advantages. Nisshin is very innovative in the wheat and flour business,” Lionnet reveals. 

Sales have not yet begun, but production is currently “bulking up” in Australia, to be exported to Japan.

By Anni Schleicher