The health attributes of dietary fiber are most recognized by consumers, and its development prospects are promising

March 19, 2024

Dietary fiber has various health benefits, but with the improvement of living standards, food refinement and over production have led to a serious shortage of dietary fiber intake among Chinese residents, providing opportunities for the dietary fiber market.

01
Good tolerance becomes key

Dietary fiber has many advantages. One of the biggest advantages is being recognized by consumers. According to the International Commission on Food Information (IFIC) 2021 Food and Health Survey, dietary fiber is considered the healthiest ingredient among consumers, with 56% of respondents actively attempting to consume dietary fiber.
For manufacturers, dietary fiber also has many advantages. Dietary fiber components can improve the texture and stability of baked goods and even yogurt, help lower blood sugar, and have health benefits for digestion and cardiovascular health.
According to an IFIC survey, the majority of consumers (92%) attempt to obtain fiber from food, but still one fifth choose to use dietary fiber supplements.
It is crucial to provide products with good tolerance in order to help consumers achieve their daily recommended fiber intake.
"For a typical diet that consumes 2000 calories per day, achieving the recommended fiber intake of 28 grams is difficult. In order to quickly obtain more dietary fiber, some consumers may seek foods with added dietary fiber, but these products may cause stomach discomfort. Our study found that nearly 70% of consumers no longer purchase products that cause gastrointestinal discomfort."

02
Promoting Immune Health

With the development of gut microbiome science, dietary fiber has been found to be associated with many health benefits. The attention to the relationship between digestive system health and immunity is also increasing.
Melissa Kaczmarczyk, Chief Scientist at Tate&Lyle Global Nutrition, said, "Early studies have shown that prebiotic dietary fiber (such as our Proximitor soluble fiber) may help enhance immune health, and research on this potential benefit is ongoing. In addition, insufficient dietary fiber intake can have a negative impact on the intestinal barrier, leading to an increased susceptibility of the body to pathogens."
Dietrich cited a study by FMCG Gurus, stating that "throughout the pandemic, consumer attention to their immune health only increased and did not decrease, with 65% of global consumers paying more attention to immunity due to COVID-19." They are also studying dietary fiber.
Dietrich said, "In fact, 87% of American consumers are interested in products containing immune supporting ingredients, and 65% of consumers are particularly interested in dietary fiber. We expect that as consumer demand increases, there will be an increase in the development of fiber components related to immune support."

03
Promise of prebiotics

Some fiber products are labeled with probiotic statements, indicating that they can promote digestion and immune health, but manufacturers should be careful not to cause confusion among consumers.
Kaczmarczyk said, "Introducing terms like prebiotics may cause confusion without proper explanation, but the use of this term indicates a greater interest in trying to understand the complexity of gut health. Although today's consumers have a deeper understanding of gut health, more education is needed to further explain the benefits and differences of prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics for the human microbiome. Additionally, not all consumers are aware that multiple soluble fibers are prebiotics."
She added, "In the past 90 days, social media posts have confirmed people's interest in 'fiber' and 'prebiotics', but the frequency of their combination is not high. This data supports that although prebiotics are being discussed together with fiber, more measures need to be taken to educate consumers about the connection between fiber and prebiotics."
Nicole Redini, Category Strategy Manager at Tate&Lyle in North America, stated that few manufacturers utilize the fiber content in their products. Currently, only about 2% to 3% of products listed in the United States have high/added fiber claims, which may indicate that although some products contain fiber, consumers may not be fully aware of this.
Redini added that in addition, less than 1% of food and beverage products launched in the United States contain prebiotic claims, which provides an opportunity for brands to launch products containing high fiber, prebiotics, and gut health claims. These claims also ensure that consumers understand the benefits they can gain by consuming products containing fiber.
With the development of fiber components such as ADM's Fibersol, Tate&Lyle's Proximitor soluble fibers, which have good tolerance and wide applications, fibers can play a role in many products.
Redini said, "According to Mintel GNPD data, snacks, grains, and energy bars still have the most soluble fiber content in newly launched products. However, in 2020 and 2021, the share of other categories of fiber containing products such as sweet cookies and cookies, cold grains, vitamins and Dietary supplements, and ice cream has increased. In the past year, the launch of fiber based gum supplements has also continued to increase to support intestinal health."

There are still many things to look forward to in the field of dietary fiber, and consumers are no exception.

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2024-02-26

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