Nov 30 2011 --- Fruit and vegetable ingredients now offer manufacturers a major opportunity to market nutritious products without the need to resort to using health claims, according to a report published this week at Food Ingredients Europe by Taura Natural Ingredients.

The Taura Fruit Ingredients & Snacking Report 2012 says that fruit and vegetables already have an overwhelmingly positive image in consumers’ minds – presenting a major advantage in a market where the EU’s Nutrition & Health Claims Regulation is set to make it more difficult to promote products with specific health benefits.

In the new report Taura, which produces market-leading Ultra Rapid Concentrated (URC) fruit and vegetable ingredients, says:

“Europe’s exacting, near-pharmaceutical requirements for scientific substantiation have taken the use of many health claims off the table for marketers for now. But for fruit – unlike many healthy ingredients that manufacturers could choose to use in snacks, bakery, breakfast cereals or confectionery – this will be no obstacle.”

The report includes data from a survey conducted by Ipsos, in which researchers asked consumers in France, Germany, Spain and the UK what lifestyle changes they felt they should make to improve their health or stay healthy. In each country, ‘eat fruit’ and ‘eat vegetables’ appeared in the top 5 responses.

Mattias Van Uffelen, Head of Sales for Europe & UK at Taura, said: “The findings from the Ipsos study show that most people already recognize fruit and vegetables are good for them. And in a world following full implementation of the EU’s health claims regulation, where companies are severely restricted in terms of the messages they can use to communicate the benefits of their products, this level of embedded consumer awareness will be an extremely valuable asset.”

Other highlights of the report include:

• An exclusive column from leading European nutritionist Béatrice de Reynal de Saint Michel, who writes: “It is imperative that manufacturers are able to offer to consumers naturally healthy snacks which are rich in fruits and/or vegetables, are flavourful and in-step with current trends so as to be appealing to all ages. The future of food lies with innovations that carefully combine pleasure, flavour and nutrition.”

• Detailed data illustrating why fruit and vegetable ingredients are a key growth trend and opportunity. In 2011, for example, the European market for 100% fruit ingredients has grown 20% to a value of €40-€45 million (source: New Nutrition Business).

• An insight into why the launch of Taura’s new URC Inclusions range signals that products combining 100% concentrated fruit and ancient grains such as quinoa, amaranth and chia could be the next big thing in snacks, confectionery and breakfast cereals.

All journalists attending Food Ingredients Europe are invited to stop by at Stand #1E47 to meet Taura’s European team and find out more about the company’s wide range of groundbreaking concepts and innovations, all based on its URC technology.

URC is a unique process of concentrating the taste, texture and natural goodness of fruit and vegetables into pieces, flakes and pastes for use in applications such as snack bars, fruit snacks, baked goods, breakfast cereals and confectionery.