Chapter 22: Foods for Diet-related Disease Prevention and Health Promotion: Sensory Quality and Consumer Acceptance

The content of salt, sugar, fat and fibre in processed foods plays an important role in health promotion and diet-related disease prevention. However, the reformulation of processed foods with respect to these nutrients, in order to obtain healthier products, is a major challenge for the industry. This due to their impact on other essential food characteristics, such as taste, appearance and texture, or even safety, convenience and price. Achieving comparable acceptance between original and reformulated products is thus a demanding endeavour, requiring different strategies depending on the nutrients and type of food being reformulated. The characteristics of different consumer groups also play an important role in the acceptance and marketplace success of nutritionally-enhanced products. This chapter describes key aspects of the product reformulation processes undertaken by the food industry to meet current global nutrition and public health goals. Different food science and technology approaches are detailed, along with some marketing strategies aimed at ensuring consumer acceptance and marketplace success of reformulated products.