The obesity crisis is worsening. Last year, the number of 10-11yr olds that were categorised as “severely obese” increased by a third, to 4.2%^[1]. In response, Public Health England (PHE) announced ambitious targets to reduce overall calorie content in a range of processed foods by 20% by 2024. This, coupled with increasing consumer pressure to improve nutritional profiles and generally make foods healthier, is putting manufacturers in a position where they must reformulate.

Ulrick & Short has responded to this by announcing a focussed range of ingredients which promise to reduce calorie content by up to 20% in a range of applications. The ingredients are a further development of the ingredient technologies in the company’s existing delyte^TM and avanté^TM ranges of fat and sugar replacers – with calorie reduction as their emphasis. The new clean label ingredients replace the functional properties of sugar and fats, so manufacturers can improve front of pack nutritional profiles while maintaining product quality, and meeting government calorie reduction targets.

The extended range concentrates on the product categories targeted by PHE, such as: bakery, processed meats, pastries, biscuits, ready meals, sauces and soups and food-to-go. Furthermore, the ingredients are clean label, vegan, non-GM, with most also being gluten free.