FlavorHealth creates natural flavor solutions focused on three key areas – sugar reduction, sodium reduction, and bitter balance – to enable food and beverage manufacturers to participate in health and wellness consumer trends.
“Consumers want a better-for-you product, but they will not compromise on taste,” Shari Joslin, VP of commercial development for FlavorHealth, told BeverageDaily at IFT.
“Many focus groups I’ve been in, you put an indulgent product in front of them and a better-for-you product and they always take the indulgent even though they say they want a better (better-for-you) product.”
Flavor enhancing and bitter masking
FlavorHealth showcased its natural proprietary sweetener enhancer, FlavorHealth Sweet, created by its R&D team using components found in nature that trigger the “sweetness receptor,” Joslin said. It provides up to a 50% sugar reduction by only utilizing flavors without the use of any sweeteners such as monk fruit or stevia.
“It works on caloric and non-caloric sweeteners and really makes the product taste like a full-sugar product,” Joslin said.
The company also highlighted its Bitter Balance technology that aids with protein flavor masking, specifically addressing the rising prevalence of vegetable protein in beverages. Flavor Health Bitter Balance is able to reduce bitterness by 40% to 60%, according to the company.
“That is where the industry is going, but they have to taste good,” Joslin added.
FlavorHealth is currently developing its temporal profile capabilities to give beverage formulators and manufacturers fine-tuned flavor options like an upfront, immediate or lingering sweetness, Joslin said.