ADM wheat protein ingredient to bind health bars

Ingredients in snack bars are frequently bound together using sugars. But Archer Daniels Midland says formulators designing low-sugar products can now use the firm's recently developed protein-rich ingredient Prolite 100 in a variety of applications, including bars, baked goods and cereals.

Although Prolite 100 has been around for a year and a half, its binding process is new, ADM director of strategic accounts Britton Walker told NutraIngredients-USA.com.

ADM claims the binding ingredient could lead to savory bars for specific tastes and needs, such as the growing market for Hispanic foods.

The Hispanic population is offering new opportunities for food makers, notably in their traditional dietary tastes, as well as emerging information on specific health risks related to the population, including obesity and diabetes.

Obesity rates for Hispanic Americans are 23 percent for men and 27.5 percent for women, compared to 22 and 21 percent respectively for non-Hispanic whites, according to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

And that same population is 1.9 times more likely to develop diabetes than non-Hispanic whites, according to the National Diabetes Clearinghouse.

Regardless of culture or ethnicity targets, ADM says the first goal of its ingredients is flavor - citing the mistake of many healthy-snack formulations up until now as missing the mark on properly satisfying the public's desire for tasty products.

"In general, companies jumped into making low-fat products both feet first without thinking about flavor,"​ said ADM director of trade marketing Christopher Sparks.

The healthy snacks ADM are now gearing their ingredients towards are more "indulgent"​ and satisfying than those formulated in the past, said Sparks, adding that following the 'low carb' fad in the US people, companies need to change the public's misconception that healthy equals tasteless.