FiE show preview: Weight management and gut health

But how many will provide a return on investment for manufacturers desperate to grab a slice of the functional foods market?

While the market opportunity is indisputable (yes - we're all getting fatter), competition is fierce, the regulatory environment is tightening up and consumers are becoming increasingly cynical.

But none of this will dampen the enthusiam of FiE exhibitors, which are all convinced that they hold the key to battling the bulge.

Leading the charge is Lipid Nutrition, which will be showcasing two major ingredients designed to tackle the rising obesity epidemic: Clarinol conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and PinnoThin. Clarinol, which is made from safflower oil. helps reduce body fat in specific areas and increase lean muscle mass without extra dieting or exercise.

PinnoThin, which contains pine nut oil extracted from the seeds of the native Korean pine, stimulates the hunger-suppressing hormones CCK and GLP1.

Cognis, meanwhile, will be highlighting the benefits of its Tonalin CLA (also from safflowers), which it claims can help the overweight reduce body fat and maintain lean muscle mass by decreasing the amount of fat stored after eating and encouraging the body to draw on existing fat reserves instead.

Other companies promising to contract our expanding waistlines include Glanbia Nutritionals with its Prolibra body-shaping whey protein milk mineral complex, and Palatinit, with its Palatinose low-glycaemic carbohydrate (p13). Claimed to promote the utilisation of body fat as an energy source and improve metabolic fat oxidation, Palatinose is the only carbohydrate to provide sustained energy from glucose while at the same time boosting fat burning, says the firm.

Also out to impress is DSM Food Specialties, which is developing an arsenal of weapons to tackle Metabolic Syndrome, of which obesity is just one manifestation. As first revealed in FIHN (July/August, p4), its big launch at FiE is InsuVital, a patented proprietary dairy peptide mix, which stimulates insulin production and improves glucose disposal. The product, which can effectively reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and lower the negative effects for people already suffering from it, is a major breakthrough in the functional ingredients market, claims the firm.

New products containing Fabuless, DSM's satiety-boosting emulsion of palm oil and oat oil, will also be on show.

Digest this

Gut and immune health products will feature prominently at FiE this year, with strong representation from Chr Hansen, which will be promoting a clutch of 'next generation' probiotics and a new listeria-busting culture called B-LC-48 (see p13), and Danisco, which will showcase its HOWARU probiotic cultures to improve digestive health and the immune system and tackle cold-related symptoms.

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