Product Reformulation

Since the beginning of June, the long-awaited US regulation banning transfats from processed foods has been in force. So, what does that mean for the rest of the world?

US manufacturers must ensure that their products no longer contain partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) for uses that have not been otherwise authorised by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, this is not just a government-imposed regulation in the US; consumer preferences are shifting on an international scale and the broader picture shows that, while PHOs are now banned from processed foods in the US, people around the world don’t want them anyway.

It is this shift away from transfat and sugar that is driving innovation across food and drink categories. This is even the case in sweet bakery, where you may consider it quite a challenge to cut down on such ingredients.

Reformulating products and creating new products with a cleaner label, less sugar, less butter and more of a focus on health, nutrition and wellbeing are all key themes for this year. Indeed, clean and clear labels are much more of a prerequisite for new product development in general.

Walter Lopez from Limagrain Cereales Ingredients said, “The European consumer wants to have natural ingredients like flour, eggs, butter or sugar present in their kitchen. They need to know the ingredients included in a food composition and it is understandable to reject PHOs or other artificial ingredients.”

The consumer-led clean label drive is going to be a much stronger force than legislation in the elimination of transfats from bakery.