Exceeding consumer expectations with flavor masking
Great taste, lower calorie, healthy ingredients … today’s food has to meet a lot of goals for an increasingly smart and selective consumer base. And often meeting one goal, such as lower sugar or calories or added nutritional value, means a degradation in another area, such as taste.
As more products turn to functional sport and active nutrition, added nutrients bring with them a complex profile of bitter, metallic, chalky, astringent, or otherwise off-putting tastes.
In a steeply competitive market where there are so many options, manufacturers shouldn’t have to choose between offering a healthy product and offering a great-tasting one.
Even as we focus on lighter, healthier eating, consumers still turn to prepared products thanks to their busy lifestyles. They study labels and they know what to look for. A masking formulation such as that offered by Sensient’s US- & EU-compliant, GMO-free proprietary technology helps reduce negative flavor tones without adding artificial ingredients. It is the solution for manufacturers who wish to offer products in the lucrative healthy-eating market that provide both nutritional value and good taste.
Consider sugar:
Substitutes such as stevia bring unwelcome guests along in the form of strong, bitter and metallic aftertastes. Most masking agents on the market can compensate, but not in the all-natural way that consumers demand. Sensient’s next generation of Taste Modulation ingredients, however, is different. Now manufacturers can meet consumers’ health profile desires while also giving them great-tasting food and beverages.
To learn more about the science behind the different types of masking, read the blog, “Changing Sensory Perceptions of Taste: The Science.”