Increased demand for prebiotics
In 2008, digestive health has clearly become the biggest segment of the functional food market, accounting for 68% of sales of approved functional foods in Europe and 64% in Japan last year (Source: AC Nielsen supermarket scanning). Positioned as the number one trend in Mellentin’s Top 10 Trends for 2008, the demand for digestive health products shows no signs of slowing down.
More health claim petitions
The same growth is seen in the number of health claim petitions to the European Commission, in preparation for the onset of the pan-European legislation. BENEO-Orafti itself has submitted five health claim petitions. These are to ensure that when Orafti® inulin and oligofructose are included in functional food products, the following types of claims can be made:
- ‘promotes a balanced microflora’
- ‘promotes digestive health’
- ‘increases calcium absorption’ leading to ‘increased bone strength’ (Orafti®Synergy1)
- ‘stimulates your body’s natural defences’.
As new scientific evidence becomes available, we will continue to submit petitions to support our partners.
The Future ‘Feels Good’!
The future of prebiotics remains extremely positive. The dairy, bakery and cereals sectors continue to be the most successful.
Dairy is accounting for nearly 50% of prebiotic products currently on the market (Source: www.innova-food.com). In addition, a growing number of breakfast cereal manufacturers use prebiotics as a way of promoting the ‘feel good factor’ to the consumer, or to add extra fibre to biscuits and bread products.
The latest launches include Wild Animal Crunch cereals from Kellogg’s in the USA, Nestlé Choco Snack de Morango (biscuits) in Brazil and Cranberry Citrus Oat Crunch Biscuits in Canada.
April 28, 2008
