GSK aims to balance food taste, health

Although consumers' shift towards healthier foods have pushed a lot of FMCG companies to introduce a 'health food' category, one of the biggest challenges is to find a formula that can ensure good taste of the product too.

"Many of the active ingredients when added at levels necessary to provide a health benefit usually have an impact on aroma, flavour and aftertaste of the product," said R Nagarajan, general manager "� R&D of GlaxoSmithkline, the makers of drinks like Horlicks and Boost, at Icfost 2007 at IIT-Kharagpur.

According to Nagarajan, usage of Omega-3 fatty acids, derived from fish oils, algae, etc, and soy protein, pose a challenge with their strong taste and smell.

"Technologies such as micro-encapsulation, taste-masking through flavours, etc, have allowed addition of such ingredients to cereal and dairy-based products without adversely affecting the taste," Nagarajan pointed out.

During selection of ingredients, the compatibility and stability of the active ingredient in the food matrix also needs to be assessed. The high lipid insolubility of phytosterola and stanols initially limited their compatibility in many food products, but esterification has allowed them to be incorporated into fat-containing foods like butter, margarine and yogurt. Again, micronutrient fortification of foods is among the most challenging tasks in development of health foods.

For instance, fortification of iron in foods and beverages can lead to interaction and change in colour of the product. Using the right source of iron salt helps in improving the stability of iron against destabilising actors such as heat, pH, oxidation, etc.

"Stability issues also arise from using an active ingredient. Shelf life of many products with omega-3 fatty acids has been extended through nitrogen flushing of product packs and microencapsulation of ingredient which provide oxygen barrier, preventing oxidation rancidity," Nagarajan said.

While developing a health food, it is important to develop a product based on sound science and provide the consumer with a credible reason to buy. The food formulator can use awareness and understanding in the choice of the right ingredients as well as processing and packaging to ensure their efficacy till end of shelf life.

Again, appropriate stability testing and modelling will need to be carried out as part of the product development process to ensure any ingredient added to enhance the nutritional profile of a health food formulation is stable and efficacious and does not impact the sensorial stability till end of shelf life of the product.