6533b7d8fe1ef96bd126b497

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Salt, sugar and lipid reduction in solid foods; a summary of the main outcomes from PLEASURE and TERIFIQ FP7 Twin projects

subject

description

National audience; Most developed countries are facing excessive consumption of salt, saturated fat and free sugars. The reduction of salt-sugar-saturated fats (SSSF) in foods influences not only its nutritional qualities but also its sensory properties and safety (e.g.shelf-life). The main challenge is to formulate healthier foods, which will be accepted by consumers. In this context, two FP7 European projects, TeRiFiQ and PLeASURe have been funded on the same call (2012-2015) to investigate innovative strategies for the reduction of sodium, sugar and fat content in selected foods. Both projects focused on staple foods such as cheese, meat, bakery (cake), sauces and also pizza as an assembled food. TeRiFiQ achieved significant binary reductions in SSSF contents. These changes were found to be acceptable to consumers. Different strategies such as changes in technological parameters, use of single and multiple emulsions, use of natural replacers… adapted to each food category were used to significantly reduce the target ingredients. PLeASURe made it possible to identify solutions for each tested food/ingredients (dough, meat, cheese, sauce and fruit preparations) but beyond it to propose a combinatorial approach by the study off combined ready-to-eat pizza and pastry with the previously optimized food ingredients (vs SSSF reduction). The spatial distribution was optimized, resulting in a pizza reduced in salt (-25%) which was perceived as much more salty than the control. These works highlights the complementarities of sensory methodologies, the complexity of perception, as well as the contribution of each methodology on the development of foods. Both projects reached their main objectives. Highlights of these projects will demonstrate how simple approaches based on hybrid solutions based on substitute, spatial distribution and flavour (congruence) can be used to reduce SSSF. These solutions are for the most accessible to industry applications to provide healthier foods to the European and worldwide population.