Copyright © 2021 Food Research Lab. All rights reserved 1

The Dynamics of Taste Perception and the Plight of Healthy Plant-Based

Snack Food Manufacturers

Dr. Nancy Agnes, Head,

Technical Operations, FoodResearchLab

info@foodresearchlab.com

I. INTRODUCTION

In today’s fast-paced world, consumers are

living more on the go and snacking often.

Moreover, people are also conscious of

what they are eating and looking for

healthier options rather than something

that is just going to curb cravings. With

numerous diets popping on the internet,

people have started reading the ingredients

and the following label claims now more

than ever. The conventional idea of a

snack as a quick bite between two meals

has changed.

Due to this reliance, Food scientists are

trying to innovate the snack category as a

source of nutrition. Food manufacturers

are creating healthy snacks that taste great

while fulfilling nutritional requirements

with exotic flavours, high protein edibles

and plant-based options. Snack Food

manufacturers should keep up with the

ongoing food trend and must adapt to the

dynamics of the consumers preferences.

So, lets us learn a few key points which

food manufacturers outsource their

research and development function for

formulation to embrace to create your

favourite and the perfect snack.

II. UPDATED NUTRITIONAL LABEL

The industry which was once celebrated as

offering occasional treats must now supply

to the people who wants healthier choices

throughout the day. Many consumers are

not motivated to buy products that are

closely aligned with well-being and avoid

artificial ingredients, GMOs or pesticides.

This has led to the rise of cleaner labels

and increase in non-GMO and organic

segment products.

In 2015, Kellogg, General Mills,

Nestle, Hershey and Campbell all

vowed to remove artificial ingredients

from all or certain specific segments of

their portfolios. Kellogg has struggled

with this shift already, especially with

K cereal.

Even basic foods such as loaves of

bread, cereal and chocolate are

expected to be made with healthier

ingredients. For instance, a baker in

Orlando, USA, has created bread with

probiotics baked into it improve

customers digestive health (1). With

prebiotics loaded in yoghurt and cereal

from the breakfast menu, bread was the

next foods to add these healthy bacteria

to yoghurt .

Not just your gut, consumers also

prefer to choose food that offers

benefits to their brain, improve

memory and focus, a principle called

neuro-nutrition (2,3). The healthy label

also embraces the clean, vegan, gluten-

free and allergen-free diets, which

many people follow.

III. ADDED PROTEINS

Paleo and keto food diets are two most

recent and important diets which has

Copyright © 2021 Food Research Lab. All rights reserved 2

initiated a new trend in the snack food

industry.

Meat-based snacks (such as cracked

pepper Jerky or Chicken Sriracha Bar)

might come to your mind when you

think of proteins. Meat is still by large

a major player in the protein snacks

category. We have seen increased sales

of beef jerky or pork rinds or salted

fried pork skin from manufactures such

as Utz and Rudolph’s.

We can see that the food formulation

scientist and food manufacturers are

going to great lengths to innovative

flavours in the market, such as Cuban

mojito, apple chardonnay, cilantro lime

etc., which are appealing to existing

and younger consumers.

Plant-based proteins (Protein Brownie)

based new product formulation also

equally contribute to this added protein

section. Higher protein addition is a

common driver for new plant-based

formulations (4). This is done to satisfy

hunger and provide an energy boost.

For instance, Peanut bar has 7 g of

protein which provides long-lasting

energy and makes you feel full (5).

IV. BRING TASTE FORWARD

If a snack doesn’t stimulate your appetite,

it doesn’t matter how healthy it is, and

consumers won’t buy it. Especially with

younger consumers who are looking for

more adventurous flavours and unique

experiences. Food scientists see an

increasing trend and popularity towards

savoury, spicy, Smokey and umami

flavours (6). Moreover, a combination of

these flavour profiles with sweet products

is also emerging, such as sea salt caramel

or smoked almond toffee. Bold, spicy

flavours such as spicy peri-peri Biltong

sticks stand out from the crowd.

The production of snacks, such as extruded

puffs; dehydrated veggie chips (banana

plantain, yuca, mushroom or onion) are

ideal for combining a wide range of

flavours with healthy ingredients, as they

are thoroughly combined at the mixing

stage before the final extrusion or frying

process. Healthy ingredients choice such

as pea proteins, lentils, pulses, cauliflower,

sunflower and flax seeds are great for

experimenting with flavours creating an

overall healthier product.

In recent, a lot of salt flavoured crisps and

snacks can be seen on the supermarket

shelves. Superfine sea salt flakes are

similar to a powdery texture offer an even

coating to the snacks such as popcorn,

potato chips and nuts, delivering an

enhanced flavour impact and less sodium

content. In contrast to salt, major

organisations such as WHO and FDA are

against high sugar intake, with no more

than 10 % of the daily intake amount.

More consumers are turning away from

high sugar foods, especially soda. These

ingredients are widely used, and finding

alternatives is a considerable challenge. A

major challenge for manufacturers is that

the consumers want the taste of sugar and

salt in their products. Artificial sweeteners

are also out of the equation as

manufacturers are being forced to

experiment with other flavours and

Copyright © 2021 Food Research Lab. All rights reserved 2

enhances. We have seen PepsiCo and

Coca-Cola removing aspartame from their

diet products (7).

V. PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN

CURE

Consumers are now requesting for free-

from products, such as fat-free, sugar-free,

dairy-free, nut-free etc. The popularity of

such free-from products has greatly

increased is due to the awareness of food

allergens and lifestyle choice. For instance,

nut allergies happen when your body’s

immune system overeats the proteins

found in the nuts. Human’s defence system

treats them as a threat and tries to fight

them off. Wheat allergy (Gluten

intolerance) is an immune response to any

of the proteins present in wheat, barley and

rye, including but not limited to gluten.

Wheat is one of the top food allergens in

the USA, commonly recorded in children.

Is lupin a new product?

Lupin is a common legume, belonging

to the peanut family and readily

available in some parts of Asia and

Europe. Lupin flour and protein started

becoming available in the United

States, where it was considered as a

wheat replacement in gluten-free

products. The US-FDA issued a red

alert warning as it can cause an allergic

reaction ranging from a mild case of

hives to full-blown anaphylaxis (8,9).

However, for most people foods

containing Lupin are safe to eat.

What are the challenges with free-from

products?

The first and foremost challenge with these

products is to source alternative

ingredients. Secondly, scientists have to

make sure the ingredients interact together

similar to the conventional ingredients in

the original recipe. Moreover, despite

using different ingredients, food scientist

also needs to achieve the same flavour,

consistency, functionality and texture.

Snack food manufacturers struggle with

relatively high costs of free-from

ingredients than conventional ingredients ,

showcasing major restraints for the growth

of this market segment. As the market is

driven by the increased diagnosis of food

allergies and awareness about health

benefits associated with special dietary

lifestyles; the snacks and ready to eat

(RTE) segment which is projected to grow

at the highest during the forecast period.

VI. OVERCOMING FUTURE

CHALLENGES

While the snack food industry has faced

quite a few hurdles, it has still offered

healthier food choices in many segments.

Future trends tend to emerge from the

existing ones, making it easy for

consumers to follow internet leads. Other

challenges that which remain constant are

to bring down the overall cost of the

product, scale up time, competing in

different segments and markets and the

important of all to be compliant with all

local and international regulations.

Food Research Lab can help you solve

these problems. FRL is for food

manufacturers as well as those companies

involved in NPD and developing spec

without manufacturing. FRL gives you the

ability to improve all phases and aspects of

new product development, such as original

specification, ideation, recipe tracking.

Additionally, you can get them out to

market quicker than ever before.

Dr Raj is a trained food scientist from

New Zealand, with 10 years of experience.

Upon completion of his PhD, he worked

for various FMCGs. He is the recipient of

the Oxoid food science award from the

Heriot-Watt University and Callaghan

grant from University of Otago and

Callaghan Innovations for his academic

performance. Raj writes early in the

morning, then spends the rest of the day

Copyright © 2021 Food Research Lab. All rights reserved 2

working as a full-time technologist and as

a consultant at Food Research Lab,

Chennai & the UK, where he makes his

experiments work.

REFERENCES

1. https://www.bakingbusiness.com/articles/42933-

orlando-baking-launches-bread-with-probiotics

2. https://medium.com/@jenniferroberts050_60595/ne

uro-nutrition-the-impact-of-food-on-our-brains-

646335c6dbfd

3. Devi, Aruthra & Narayanan, Rita. (2019). A Review

on Neuronutrition. Asian Journal of Dairy and Food

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4. Kårlund, A., Gómez-Gallego, C., Turpeinen, A. M.,

Palo-Oja, O. M., El-Nezami, H., & Kolehmainen,

M. (2019). Protein Supplements and Their Relation

with Nutrition, Microbiota Composition and Health:

Is More Protein Always Better for

Sportspeople?. Nutrients, 11(4), 829.

https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11040829

5. Kaufman, F. R., Halvorson, M., & Kaufman, N. D.

(1997). Evaluation of a snack bar containing

uncooked cornstarch in subjects with

diabetes. Diabetes research and clinical

practice, 35(1), 27-33

6. https://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/business-

resources/flavor-trends-savory-snacks

7. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/au/news/fanta-

and-sprite-join-the-no-sugar-movement

8. Cochard, M. M., & Eigenmann, P. A. (2011).

Allergies to nuts and seeds. In Nuts and Seeds in

Health and Disease Prevention (pp. 137-143).

Academic Press.

9. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-

petitions/lupin-and-allergenicity-frequently-asked-

questions