What are the health Properties of dietary fiber?

Dietary fiber has a variety of health benefits, but with the improvement of living standards, food refinement, too finished products, etc., the dietary fiber intake of Chinese residents is seriously insufficient, which provides opportunities for the dietary fiber market.
Good tolerance becomes the key
Dietary fiber has many advantages. One of the biggest advantages is that it is recognized by consumers. According to the International Food Information Council’s (IFIC) 2021 Food and Health Survey, as an ingredient, dietary fiber is considered the healthiest among consumers, with 56 percent of respondents actively trying to consume dietary fiber.
For manufacturers, dietary fiber also has many advantages, and dietary fiber ingredients can improve the texture and stability of baked goods and even yogurt, help reduce sugar, and have digestive and cardiovascular health benefits.
According to the IFIC survey, the majority of consumers (92%) try to get fiber from food, but still one in five choose to use dietary fiber supplements.
In order to help consumers reach the recommended daily intake of fiber, it is essential to provide well-tolerated products.
Sarah Diedrich, Director of sweetener Solutions & Fiber Marketing at ADM, explains, “It’s difficult to reach the recommended fiber intake of 28 grams on a typical diet of 2,000 calories per day. In order to get more dietary fiber quickly, some consumers will seek out foods with added dietary fiber, but these products can cause stomach upset. Our research found that nearly 70 percent of consumers will no longer buy products that cause gastrointestinal upset.” Promote immune health
As the science of the gut microbiome has evolved, dietary fiber has been found to be associated with many health benefits. There is also growing concern about the link between digestive health and immunity.
Melissa Kaczmarczyk, Chief scientist at Tate & Lyle’s Global Nutrition Division, said: “Early research has suggested that prebiotic dietary fibres, such as our Promitor soluble fibre, may help enhance immune health, and research is continuing on this potential benefit. In addition, inadequate dietary fiber intake negatively affects the intestinal barrier, leading to increased susceptibility to pathogens.”
“Consumer concern about their immune health has only increased throughout the pandemic, with 65 percent of global consumers more concerned about immunity as a result of COVID-19,” Diedrich said, citing research by FMCG Gurus. And they’re looking at dietary fiber.
“In fact, 87 percent of U.S. consumers are interested in products containing ingredients that support immune function, and 65 percent are particularly interested in dietary fiber,” Diedrich said. We expect to see an increase in the development of fiber ingredients related to supporting immunity as consumer demand grows.” Prebiotics promise
Some fiber products are labeled with prebiotic claims that they can promote digestive and immune health, but manufacturers should be careful not to create confusion among consumers.
Kaczmarczyk said, “The introduction of a term like prebiotics can cause confusion without proper explanation, but the use of this term suggests that there is a greater interest in trying to understand the complexities of gut health.” While today’s consumers have a greater understanding of gut health, more education needs to be provided to further explain the benefits and differences that prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics produce on the human microbiome. In addition, not all consumers are aware that multiple soluble fibers are prebiotics.”
“Over the past 90 days, social media posts have confirmed interest in ‘fiber’ and ‘prebiotics,’ but the combination of the two words has not come up as often,” she added. This data supports that while prebiotics are being talked about alongside fiber, more needs to be done to educate consumers about the link between fiber and prebiotics.”
Nicole Redini, category strategy manager at Tate & Lyle North America, said that few manufacturers take advantage of the fiber content in their products, and currently, only about 2 to 3 percent of marketed foods and beverages in the United States have a high/added fiber claim, which may indicate that while some products contain fiber, But consumers may not be fully aware of this.
In addition, less than 1 percent of food and beverage products launched in the United States contain prebiotic claims, which provides an opportunity for brands to introduce products with high fiber, prebiotic and gut health claims, while also ensuring that consumers understand the benefits they can get by consuming products that contain fiber, Redini added.
With the development of well-tolerated, versatile fiber ingredients such as ADM’s Fibersol and Tate & Lyle’s Promitor Soluble fiber, fiber has a role to play in many products.
Redini said: “According to Mintel GNPD data, among newly launched products, the most soluble fiber components continue to be snacks, cereals and energy bars. However, in 2020 and 2021, other categories such as sweet cookies and cookies, cold cereals, vitamins and dietary supplements, and ice cream increased their share of fiber-containing products. The launch of fiber-based gummy supplements to support gut health has also continued to increase over the past year.”
There’s a lot more to look forward to in the dietary fiber space, and so are consumers.