A bread fortified with very high levels of vitamin D appeared to be
much better at protecting bone health in elderly people than
bone-building drugs, according to a study presented this week.
Bread with reduced carbohydrates is unlikely to become a long-term
trend but the bakery sector could do more to capitalise on the
rising interest in fibre and wholegrains, suggests an analyst.
New developments in bakery ingredients are set to give the sector a
more important presence in the booming functional foods industry,
reports Dominique Patton.
Functional bakery products trail behind beverages and dairy in
terms of the global functional food market but in one European
market - Germany - functional bread is showing good growth,
according to market analysts Euromonitor.
Three British food industry bodies have joined forces to promote a
new diet which they hope will prove just as popular as the low-carb
Atkins fad currently sweeping the nation - and which will, they
hope, get consumers eating carbohydrate-rich...
A novel source of omega-3 fatty acids, seeds from the South
American plant chia, could soon reach the European market after a
UK scientific panel concludes the ingredient is safe for
consumption.
The market for functional food products has grown steadily for
several years now, focusing primarily on the dairy sector. But
other sectors of the food industry, such as bakery and snacks, are
beginning to see more functional products...
Britain's Federation of Bakers will next month be hoping to improve
the image of bread, still one of the nation's favourite staple
foods but suffering from the growing popularity of the US-imported
low-carb diet.
Beghin Meiji claims to have revolutionised the bakery world with
its Actilight, which can be added to white breads to offer the same
intestinal health benefits attributed to wholemeal.
Research now underway will provide the means to develop novel forms
of bread, and other foods, which contain increased amounts of
soluble fibre, making them far healthier than they currently are.
European consumers have had their fill of bread it seems, and its
role as a staple food is set to decline over coming years.
Currently, it is most successful in Germany, where it is regarded
as a healthy food, but players in this...
