BENEO Report EU Market Shift Towards Nutrient Profiling

Nutrient profiles will try to take account of the quantities of certain nutrients and other substances contained within food, its role, importance and contribution to the diet and its overall nutritional composition.

06/07/09 The BENEO-Group has reported a significant increase in the amount of major food producers working with the Group to develop product concepts that will meet the proposed EU Nutrient Profiles regulations.

Rudy Wouters, Head of Food Application Technology of the BENEO-Group, explains further: “We have seen a shift in thinking as major food producers within the industry begin to look at their product portfolios and analyse the impact that the nutrient profiles within the Claims Regulation will have on them.  We have been advising not only on a range of reformulation strategies to offer reduced sugar and fat options, but also on label improvement, packaging and wording alterations to ensure conformity. Although the nutrition profiles under development include a two year adoption period, money and time is being invested now by the major players to ensure that they are ready for a new era of nutrition and health claims.”

The purpose of the EU nutrition profiling is to help consumers to make healthy choices in the context of a balanced diet.  In particular, nutrient profiles will try to take account of the quantities of certain nutrients and other substances contained within food, its role, importance and contribution to the diet and its overall nutritional composition. 

BENEO consists of a group of BENEO-Orafti, BENEO-Palatinit and BENEO-Remy, all global and successful companies specialising in food ingredients with nutritional and technical benefits. It has a turnover of €350 million, employs almost 900 people and has production units in Belgium, Germany, Chile and Italy.

The BENEO-Group’s combined expertise and market knowledge places the Group in prime position to advise on suitable product concepts in line with the boundaries being set by the new regulations.  In addition, as preferred partner to many major food and drinks producers, the Group is also seeing an increase in demand for on-pack labelling, marketing, packaging and wording advice, as well as questions concerning country-specific regulations and patent issues.

With the EU Nutrient Profile’s focus on thresholds for sodium, saturated fat and sugars, the BENEO-Group is well placed to advise on reformulation strategies.  The Group’s products are carbohydrates and dietary fibres, characterised by their low glycemic response, high fibre content and their support for normal glycaemia. BENEO-Orafti’s dietary fibres inulin and oligofructose, BENEO-Remy’s extensive range of natural rice ingredients with clean label characteristics and BENEO-Palatinit’s functional carbohydrates Palatinose and ISOMALT offer a number of choices for sugar and fat replacement in food producer’s recipe formulations. 

By capitalising on the technological and nutritional attributes of BENEO-Group’s naturally derived ingredients, manufacturers can gain expert advice to ensure their products meet the upcoming EU Nutrient Profile currently under development, ensuring they are ready for this new era of food development and marketing, the Group claimed.