Functionality creates challenges to consumer acceptanceLiisa Lähteenmäki
VTT Biotechnology, Finland
 liisa.lahteenmaki vtt.fi
Functional foods are a new category of food that are produced by adding functional components into products, by modifying or enriching naturally occurring compounds or by removing potentially harmful components from the food. All these require technological processes that are likely to have an impact on the sensory quality of products. Consumers are not willing to accept reduced hedonic pleasure derived from eating a product even when the product contains specific health effects. This presentation concentrates in some examples of factors that need to be taken into account in the product development of functional foods.
Beta glucan is soluble fibre that has been linked with reducing the risk of cardio-vascular diseases. The FDA in USA requires a dose of 0.75 g beta glucan per portion for allowing a health claim in the product with the assumption that daily intake should be 3 g. However, the effectiveness of beta glucan depends on its molecular weight (MW). High MW is more effective from the health point of view, but at the same time it adds viscosity and perceived thickness very rapidly. In aim to add the recommended amount of beta glucan to a beverage or soup requires compromises between the efficacy and sensory quality and palatability.
Rye contains many beneficial compounds for health but its exploitation is limited due to the typical bitter flavour in rye products. Liking for rye bread is one of the culturally acquired tastes. In aim to broaden the use of rye in new cultures the source of bitter taste has to be identified and effects of processing on bitterness should be studied.
Many functional components have an impact on sensory quality and their integration into products often require compromises between reaching the most optimal health effect and maintaining the sufficient palatability of the product.
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