In many markets worldwide, consumers are seeking out foods and beverages that impart not just taste and calories but also specific health benefits. This dynamic industry segment is estimated to be worth more than $500 billion USD worldwide. With about $247 billion of that total coming from fortified or “functional” foods. With this category expected to continue its upward trajectory, companies that identify new trends early stand to benefit.
However, despite growing consumer popularity, functional foods present a challenge to food manufacturers. Because individual foods or food ingredients are being touted as having health benefits, the effort to define their potential impact or adequately determine potency often requires a series of lab processes that may seem more suited to analyzing pharmaceuticals than foods.
The good news is that food manufactures are able to rely on a variety of solutions that can support them to achieve their goals, from sample preparation to compound characterization and more.
Lab Processes and Analyses
Applications used when developing and marketing functional foods and nutraceuticals include:
- Weighing (e.g., formulation of recipes or sample preparation for HPLC/GC)
- Moisture and water analysis (using halogen moisture analysis, loss on drying, or Karl Fischer titration)
- Quantitative analyses (e.g., titration for sodium or free fatty acids content, or UV Vis for glucose/fructose content)
- Purity determination (e.g., density, refractive index, melting point, or UV Vis)
- Microbiological studies (using pH meters, balances and pipettes)
- Thermal analyses (e.g., TMA or TGA for shelf-life studies, DSC for compound characterization)
These lab techniques are used during development of new functional food products, as well as at goods-in, near line control, and during final quality control stages to ensure that manufacturing proceeds smoothly and packaging claims—especially those regulated in the USA, Canada, the European Union, Japan, and China—are accurate.
METTLER TOLEDO offers a wide range of lab products including comprehensive data management software and automation solutions that can enable fast, easy and accurate functional food analysis. These products can help food manufacturers stay ahead of labeling requirements and maximize yield in this fast-paced, constantly evolving market.
Capitalizing on Functional Food Trends
Health claims stated on packaging help to inform consumers about how specific foods fit into dietary requirements and diet-disease relationships. Packaging claims regarding active, bioavailable substances—to help quantify a functional food’s ability to provide both basic nourishment and therapeutic benefits—require accurate lab testing and analysis to verify that stated concentrations are within established tolerances.
Food and food product testing helps a functional food laboratory or food manufacturer demonstrate compliance. Innovative start-ups and established food industry players alike must consider the regulatory landscape of the countries they are targeting and ensure that they can perform the functional food analysis to meet these standards. This can help them pivot to capitalize on new health research and/or consumer trends while avoiding brand-damaging labeling recalls or costly regulatory fines.
Our laboratory food testing equipment, data management software, and automation solutions help you speed up laboratory testing of functional food and nutraceutical products to maximize production yield and stay compliant with regulations. Additionally, they support you in quickly adapting to evolving market needs by enabling efficient development of new products, recipes, flavors, and more.
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FAQ
What are functional foods?
While there is no official definition, functional foods are foods that contain specific substances that confer specific health benefits to consumers. These bioactive components may be basic vitamins and minerals (e.g., iodine, vitamin A), fatty acids (e.g., Omega-3s), herbs (e.g., ashwagandha), spices (e.g., turmeric), antioxidants (e.g., elderberry, goji berry, flavonoids, phytochemicals), and much more. Foods are considered functional when they are minimally processed, rich in nutrients, and intended for regular dietary use to promote health and/or target specific conditions.
What types of conditions are functional foods or nutraceuticals intended to treat?
Functional foods/nutraceuticals claims are made for many health conditions and disease processes. Among them are cholesterol normalization (to help prevent or manage cardiovascular disease), bone health/density (to prevent or manage osteoporosis), overall health protection/disease risk reduction (cancer prevention, stress reduction, relaxation, weight reduction, brain health), hormone regulation (thyroid, cortisol, sex hormones), blood sugar stabilization (diabetes management and prevention), skin health/joint health (anti-aging, condition management), gut health (prebiotics, probiotics, digestive enzymes, fiber), or muscle building (protein, enzymes). These functions or benefits may also extend to pets or farmed animals, with certain bioactive substances regularly added to pet food and animal feed.
Are nutraceuticals the same as functional foods?
Functional foods are generally considered foods that occur in nature that are thought or have been proven to confer specific health benefits. Nutraceuticals tend to be more processed and involve the isolation of one or more substances from natural products that are then either sold directly to consumers for use or included in processed food or beverage formulation (e.g., isolated vitamins, protein powders, fiber, antioxidants). These may promote general health or be targeted at specific conditions. Consumption may be ongoing or time-limited.
What are key functional food testing areas?
Functional foods or specific nutrients are used to influence cellular processes, impact the microbiome, enhance performance, and generally improve health. They are regularly added to foods. To effectively formulate and label functional foods or foods that incorporate particular nutrients, METTLER TOLEDO offers a range of lab equipment. This equipment is designed to assist you in the evaluation of new ingredients, the assessment or quantification of particular substances, the maintenance of labeling accuracy/compliance, and the assurance of end-product quality and shelf-life.