The latest developments in reduced salt and sugar in food and beverage

• The key factors influencing the increasing consumer need to intake less sugar and salt
• Key developments in the increased use of natural, clean labels and functional foods
• How the industry is responding to the growing health concerns including governmental guidelines
• Global trends and how they might develop in the future

David Jago, Director, Mintel Custom Solutions

Delivering functional trends to the consumer – a retailer’s perspective

• How to target consumer needs – methods that work and do not work
• How M&S has tackled salt reduction in its products
• Setting internal targets and working within external guidelines
• Uncovering potential future trends

Claire Hughes, Company Nutritionist, Marks and Spencer

The potential to improve the consumers diet through the re-formulation of commonly eaten foods

• The key factors that are influencing food re-formulation
• How these moves are driving the need for improved food formulation
• The limits to food re-formulation
• Assessing the impact on the public’s medical health and general wellness

Joop van Raaij, Marieke Hendriksen and Hans Verhagen, Head of the Centre of Nutrition & Health, National Institute for Public Health & the Environment (RIVM), P.O.

Improving the nutritional profile of your products and deliver great taste

• What benefits can you actually achieve during this process?
• How natural extracts and ingredients can play a key role in taste enhancement and deliver low salt, low fat, low calorie products
• Achieving significant taste improvements and better compliance with a healthier diet through higher consumer acceptance
• Successes and challenges of delivering great taste; where are the common gaps?

Dr. Philip Rijken, Head of Nutritional Science, DSM Food Specialties, The Netherlands

Innovative strategies and approaches to salt reduction – current options and future trends

• Legislative, consumer and industry led initiatives and targets
• The short, medium and long term technological options to reduce sodium levels further
• The key technical challenges
• Scientific methodology on how to approach the absence of replacers with identical sensory properties
• The potential to achieve significant reduction in overall salt consumption by industry-wide sodium-reduction initiatives

Dr. Johanneke Busch & Dr. Erwin W. Tareilus, Salt Reduction, Unilever Foods & Health Research Institute

The Role of Sugar in Foods

• Sugar production and history
• Sugar functionality and applications
• How can sugar properties be replaced?
• What are the issues if sugar is replaced?

Dr. Julian Cooper, Head of Food Science, British Sugar plc

Bittersweet strategies and approaches to sugar replacement

• The increasing focus on the nutritional composition of foods, from media, governments and consumers
• Putting everything into context - developing formulation strategies to reduce sugar by understanding the market, legislation and science
• Exploring the use of sweeteners
• Combating the effects of texture and taste on a product when sugar is replaced, reduced or not added

Mette Sveje, Applications Manager, Dairy, Danisco Sweetners Ltd

Ensuring your product’s longevity when reducing salt and sugar

• Salt and sugar’s main function in food safety and spoilage
• The introduction of substitutes to salt and the use of other natural preservatives such as; essential oils from plants, peptides produced by micro-organisms, etc.
• What are the key technological hurdles and physical alternatives to salt and sugar reduction?
• The legislative restrictions to these products

Dr. Serve Notermans, Scientist, Food Doctors

Applications to improve food and beverage structure and texture

• Different experimental designs to optimise formulations
• The importance of the feel of a product and its sensory applications
• The various instances of when texture has gone wrong
• The influence of texture on taste and flavour
• Preserving texture; what can you add or take out to ensure this?
• Exploring binders, gums, proteins and other textural properties

Dr. Paul Sheldrake, Market Manager, AVEBE FOOD

Round Table Industry Debate and Q&A

Take this chance to come together and discuss and debate the latest issues around salt and sugar reduction. Delegates will also be asked to submit other debate questions to the panel of the days speakers.

• Why reduce salt and sugar?
• What is happening in society to influence the consumer?
• What path might this trend go down?
• While we are diminishing salt and sugar, isn’t it better to have the real thing?

Panel of the day’s speakers

Facilitator:
Fred Brouns PhD, Research Fellow & Manager Nutritional Sciences Europe , Cargill R&D Centre

End of conference