Foraging for Fiber

Consumer awareness of the health benefits of fiber may have began three decades ago with cereal commercials featuring the phrase: “Ever eat a pine tree? Some parts are edible.” And that campaign may also have set off consumer skepticism about fiber’s taste appeal.

Although consumers are increasingly aware they need more fiber, they don’t want fiber-enriched foods to taste like a bunch of twigs. Food manufacturers find it challenging to incorporate higher levels of fiber while also delivering products that taste great, have an appealing texture and fit into an on-the-go lifestyle.

With Cargill’s new Fiber Krunch™ brand crisps, food manufacturers can easily meet these demands in a variety of products, including bars (granola, high-protein), confections (candy bars, ice-cream coatings), cereal (granolas, clusters), and snack products (trail mix, extruded snacks, toppings).

“Fiber Krunch crisps fit well with the market push toward products that provide health and wellness attributes,” says Dorothy Peterson, starch development lead—North America. “The crisps impact health-conscious consumers’ goals of increasing fiber intake, while at the same time contributing very little to the glycemic response.”

The extruded crisp, which resembles crisp rice, has 35% fewer calories than many carbohydrates (2.6 kcals per gram compared to 4 kcals per gram for typical carbohydrates). Made from modified food starch and chicory fiber, the proprietary ingredient system contains 35% dietary fiber, so food manufacturers can easily achieve “good” to “excellent source” dietary fiber claims.

The neutral color and taste provide versatility for easy and delicious fiber fortification. A recent pilot study showed the Fiber Krunch crisp stays crispier in milk longer than other leading crisps on the market, such as oat, rice or soy crisps. Currently available in one size, more sizes will be developed to meet customers’ needs.

“Food manufacturers now have a high-fiber crisp they can incorporate into their current product with very little development time or formulation changes,” says Peterson. “In some cases, they can simply replace their current crisps with Fiber Krunch, minimizing production down time.” 

Cargill Texturizing Solutions 
15407 McGinty Road W.
Wayzata, MN 55391 
Phone: 877/650-7080 
E-mail: [email protected] 
Website: www.cargilltexturizing.com