Imbibe launches line of clean label flavor masking ingredients

20 Apr 2018 --- Imbibe has launched a line of clean-label flavor masking ingredients for food and beverages, called NonSense. The development of NonSense comes hot on the heels of the success of the company's first proprietary ingredient, SweetSense.

In an industry where consumers want better-for-you beverages with natural sweeteners and functional ingredients that come with flavor challenges, without compromising on taste, NonSense has already generated a buzz with product developers who rely on it to mask off-notes such bitterness and rancidity that are common with these types of ingredients.

Imbibe’s proprietary NonSense technology is a natural flavor that blocks off-notes and suppresses the perception of unwanted taste attributes. NonSense has been specifically designed to address the taste challenges commonly associated with ingredients like natural, non-nutritive sweeteners, proteins, vitamins, minerals and functional ingredients.

NonSense is comprised of natural flavoring materials that are FEMA GRAS, and is also organic compliant, Non-GMO and has no regulatory limitations on usage level. It doesn’t contain any synthetic ingredients, and it is listed as a natural flavor on an ingredient statement, which is ideal for clean label formulations.

“We’ve experienced the remarkable impact of NonSense when formulating with plant, nut and seed milk, plant and whey proteins and stevia and monk fruit,” said Aparna Oak, Director of Flavor Innovation at Imbibe. “This is only the beginning. We plan to grow the product line and make it customizable for different applications.”

Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, Elizabeth Sisel, Ingredient Technologist at Imbibe said: “Development for this range started over a year and a half ago, and in that time and throughout multiple projects we established the NonSense line.”

“Current trends increased demand for plant-based formulations and natural non-nutritive sweeteners, which both have unappealing off-notes ranging from bitter to metallic to cardboard-like. We utilized our breadth of internal expertise and intellectual property to create and customize our flavor maskers rather than relying on outside technologies. This also allowed us to meet customer’s specific regulation requirements, like organic and non-GMO,” she explains.

“We plan to continue to optimize the NonSense line as more new and challenging plant proteins (such as seed proteins or other nut and grain-based products) enter the category, and as manufacturers look to offer their customers low or no sugar beverage options through natural non-nutritive sweeteners without sacrificing taste.”

Imbibe optimized NonSense to the current line to address the increasing demand for high protein beverages, products featuring alternative dairy proteins and bases, and a greater reliance on natural non-nutritive sweeteners for sugar reduction. NonSense and our sweetness enhancer, SweetSense, allow Imbibe customers to reduce sugar in their products without compromising on taste.

NonSense was developed in conjunction with other ingredient technologies like SweetSense, Imbibe’s proprietary clean label, zero calorie sweetness enhancer. Imbibe will be launching more flavor enhancing and modulating technologies throughout the year, which it says improve a product’s taste and mouthfeel without marring the ingredient statement.

By Elizabeth Green