World Health Day: Beneo explores new functional nutrition ingredient applications

07 Apr 2022 --- Brands are increasingly tapping into functional ingredients in a bid to improve the health credentials of their products. Nonetheless, the definition of health within the space has expanded beyond just well-being and personal nutrition – now encompassing planetary health as well.

As World Health Day is marked across the globe, Stefanie de Roover, sales director EMEA at BENEO, shares her observations to NutritionInsight. The theme for 2022 is “Our Planet, Our Health,” broadening the usual notions of health to include the environment.

According to Innova Market Insights analysis, consumers now rank planetary health as their number one concern, overtaking personal health, which has been the top priority in recent years.

“As more consumers recognize the critical role that nutrition plays for staying healthy, a development which also gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re seeing more brands tap into this through innovation by using functional ingredients to improve the health credentials of their products,” highlights de Roover.

Consumers are increasingly recognizing the intrinsic link between individual and planetary health.Tackling health challenges
De Roover highlights that the European population struggles with non-communicable diseases (NCD), such as diabetes. Currently, one in ten adults live with NCDs, and proper nutrition is “key to addressing the myriad of health challenges facing the region,” she adds.

Furthermore, a rapidly aging population is another long-standing issue that further contributes to the need for promoting healthy living, particularly as immunity declines with age, Roover underscores.

“Increasingly, we are seeing consumers recognize the critical role that nutrition plays for staying healthy. Keeping fit and active and having a balanced diet have all been major concerns during the pandemic, and two in three consumers now see a healthy diet is key to controlling their future health. This also includes the growing awareness that carbohydrates differ in quality.” 

Observing these developments, brands are attempting to incorporate functional ingredients – such as the company’s Palatinose – in a bid to help consumers manage blood glucose levels, lowering the risk of developing Type II diabetes, she notes.

Changing diet
Currently, 60% of consumers are now more attentive to the impact their food and drink consumption has on the environment, de Roover highlights. 

Flexitarian consumers are driving the demand for plant-based food, de Roover adds. Compared to other consumers, flexitarians are especially interested in environmental sustainability and transparent labels.

Eighty-four percent of flexitarians are concerned about climate change and the environment, 86% want to know how their food is made and what is in it and 60% consider product quality and traceability labels when shopping (compared to 41% of the general population). 

“This shows the importance for producers of prioritizing such information on-pack to facilitate the purchasing decision process. This is also driving the growth of plant-based foods, with almost half of the consumers across the globe interested in this type of diet.”

“Manufacturers can embrace the plant-based momentum by using proteins from plant sources to create meat- and dairy-free products that are not only more nutritional but retain a similar taste and texture to the original.”

Eying healthy production process
Apart from offering functional ingredients for consumers, manufacturers also have a responsibility to create more environmentally sustainable production processes, de Roover underscores. 

Beneo’s efforts to improve environmental sustainability along its entire value chain includes supporting sustainable farming to encourage biodiversity, as well as reducing water pollution and soil erosion. 

The company says it has reduced its specific energy consumption by 50% over the last 30 years. 

By Andria Kades with additional reporting from Missy Green