Dietary Fibers As Healthy Boost For Meat Alternatives

In recent years, plant-based meat and sausage alternatives were only available in specific certified organic shops, today you can find them in any supermarket. Vegetarian and vegan alternatives achieve a steady turnover grow and the products are continuously optimised and reformulated.

Various raw materials like soy, pea or wheat are used for innovative meat-free products to fulfill the wide choice of meat alternatives varying from vegan sausages or cold cuts to nuggets or burgers.

Vegans or vegetarians generally care about their nutrition. Most of them read the ingredient list and compare nutritional profiles of food products. Dietary fibers are not present in meat products. So why not adding healthy dietary fibers to a vegetarian or vegan meat alternative? This creates another additional value for the product. The fiber enrichment boosts the nutritional profile and contributes to make the product healthier and more attractive, even to non-vegetarians.

The challenge is to please a nonvegetarian with a product that is as similar as possible to real meat. The so-called flexitarians, who try to avoid meat more often, are looking for meat alternatives but seek the same culinary pleasure compared to real meat. Some attributes at least should be identical: the bite, the flavor and the color.

The German company CFF GmbH & Co. KG offers tailor-made SANACEL® dietary fibers solutions for natural fiber fortification. SANACEL® acts in different ways to improve the consistency and processability of meatless products. The fibers help to imitate the meat structure and lead to a better bite.

IMPROVING PROPERTIES OF VEGAN NUGGETS