Naturally beneficial

As any copywriter worth his salt will tell you, the most effective way to keep consumers clamouring after your products is to make good use of the best marketing buzzword of all: 'new'. But although spruced up packaging and fresh marketing angles all contribute to a product's success, for the European food industry the proof of the pudding really is in the eating.From gingko biloba to green tea, through the years manufacturers have incorporated new herbal and botanical ingredients to make sure existing lines are continually 'new and improved' and to add real function to functional foods. So surely, with the European market's continuing interest in foods with built-in health benefits, the future looks bright for companies currently seeking out new ingredients?

Maybe not, if the much-criticised EU Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation is as damaging to the industry as many commentators predict.

An uncertain future

"Given the changed environment that the Claims Regulation introduces in the coming years, it is very difficult to predict the future of botanical food ingredients," says Patrick Coppens, secretary general of the European Responsible Nutrition Alliance.

"Certainly a number of isolated or extracted and purified substances show promising prospects in relation to their benefits for health. But many firms, especially small and medium-sized companies, may also abandon such projects because of the inflexible legal environment that has been created."

Coppens argues that the "lengthy and difficult" pre-approval process for new health claims, plus the expensive process of funding the clinical evidence required for claims by the Regulation, will significantly slow the emergence of new products to market.

He also believes that the way claims are likely to be handled will also take away the impetus for companies to take a risk on new ingredients.

"Innovation requires competitive advantage; if not, the incentive to invest in innovation is absent," he says. "Under the Claims Regulation any approval of a claim is generic, which means that any company can use it once it has been approved.

"It is clear that it will be far easier to use a claim from the article 13 approved list (rather than make a fresh claim) and most companies will opt for such a solution."

There are also worries that the way the regulation works will mean that pioneering new health claims on behalf of selected ingredients will have to be watered-down to match the list to be pre-approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

"When you look at the time and effort needed to make new claims it becomes hardly worth the effort," says Professor Albert Zumbe, director of the Chocolate Powder Company, which specialises in producing high-performance cocoa-based extracts.

"For instance, we go to great efforts to produce high-quality cocoa polyphenols which are added to supplements or foods so manufacturers can make antioxidant claims. But because of the EU regulations they will only be able to make health claims similar to those made on behalf of any bar of standard chocolate.

"As a consultant I've been asked to design functional products such as chocolate bars with added nutrients. The product may sound great on paper, but when manufacturers realise that they may need to go through the time and expense of investigating health claims or go through the novel food process, these ideas just die," he says.

Instead of stimulating the market for new ingredients over the next decade, the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation, twinned with the global credit crunch, could lead to a more conservative climate for the food industry. Experts predict that rather than searching for hitherto unknown botanical ingredients, companies will instead be examining existing ingredients for new health properties.

"No totally new botanical blockbuster is on the horizon." says Dr Joerg Gruenwald, scientific director at Phytopharm Consulting. "A new discovery would have to be followed by extensive safety tests and would have to be accepted as a food ingredient in Europe first. The chances are that more health benefits of known food ingredients will be uncovered by science rather than that a totally new plant will be discovered."

Still, even against a rather gloomy outlook, there are some outstanding ingredients that have been tipped for success over the next five to ten years.

Consumers across Europe are already familiar with the benefits of antioxidants in foods, supplements and beauty products. "Antioxidants are very much in vogue right now" says Zumbe. "They're almost viewed like vitamins at the moment."

Dr Gruenwald believes that antioxidants will continue to be popular with consumers "most especially green tea catechins and cocoa polyphenols". He also cites EGCG, an extract that naturally occurs in green tea and resveratrol, which is found in grapes.

Part of the appeal for manufacturers who want to use antioxidants in their products is that there's plenty of scientific evidence available to help them make relevant health claims. "For the various antioxidants, ample clinical evidence exists," says Gruenwald.

"A variety of claims can be made for antioxidants, since their action is systemic. Antioxidants have been proved effective for claims ranging from anti-ageing to gut health and mental performance."

Also likely to continue creating a stir with consumers is the new generation of 'super fruits' coming to Europe. "So-called super fruits have the added appeal of healthy image and exoticism that is currently very attractive for consumers," says Gruenwald. The fruits that have most potential for the food industry are new to Europe, but often have a long tradition of use in their native countries.

For example, the baobab fruit, which has three times more vitamin C than an orange and 50% more calcium than spinach, is a regular part of the Senegalese diet, but until recently was largely unknown in Europe.

The Johannesburg non-profit group PhytoTrade brought the fruit into the EU in a move that the Natural Resources Institute believe will be worth up to £500M a year for the fruit's African producers.

To do so, PhytoTrade had to brave another notorious bit of EU regulation, the novel food process. This involved two years of lobbying Brussels at a cost of around £150,000.

"The novel food process is incredibly expensive and the companies that go through it tend to be the Unilevers of this world," says Professor Zumbe. "Because of this, small and medium-size companies shy away from it."

Also tapping into consumer tastes for exoticism is maca - a cruciferous plant native to Peru that Peruvians have used for thousands of years as an aphrodisiac, a fertility enhancer and a natural panacea for health problems, from rheumatism to depression. Naturex now markets a standardised extract, MacaPure, for use in functional foods and supplements.

Naturex's work in Peru has seen the company being accused of 'biopiracy' - but Antonie Dauby, Naturex's group marketing manager, says the company is relying on partnership with growers.

"As a result of an extraordinarily well-developed maca agriculture programme, Naturex has access to the highest quality and most sustainably produced source of maca," he says.

The notorious 'Southampton study', which suggested a link between six 'artificial' food colours and hyperactivity in children, has also fuelled consumer demand for all things natural, says Gruenwald. "Natural alternatives to artificial additives such as preservatives (e.g. rosemary extract) or colourings (paprika, turmeric etc) will rise in demand."

Despite the many regulatory issues that face the industry, some industry figures insist that new products are still the best way to broaden the market and boost profits. "The category is evolving into a more mature state with more science-based products to support claims," says Dauby.

"New and sophisticated product development will remain more than ever a key way to gain a market share."