Texture Analysis in Sports Nutrition – Capsules offer an innovative dosage form

At one time, “sports nutrition” might have conjured up images of body-builders and professional athletes, but today’s market has spread way beyond the weightlifting gyms and sports leagues and into urban area and shopping centres worldwide. 

This opens up nearly unlimited opportunities that manufacturers and marketers can exploit. 

While sports nutrition continues to be dominated by bulkier products such as powders, functional food and beverages (e.g. sports drinks/RTD), companies should keep in mind the strong consumer preference for capsules when considering the dosage form for a new or existing sports nutrition product.

Texture Analysis in Sports Nutrition – Maximising workouts with flavoured energy gels

It wasn’t long ago that runners and cyclists relied solely on water and isotonic drinks as their primary carbohydrate supplement during longer races.

Now our understanding of sports nutrition has improved to the point that we have a myriad of products to choose from, each designed to speed glycogen to the working muscles. 

Energy gels are the latest favourite source of carbohydrate for endurance events that provide energy for exercise and promote recovery. They come in small, single-serve plastic packets with a notch at the top, which can be peeled back to reveal an opening through which the gel can be quickly consumed. 

Texture Analysis in Sports Nutrition – Introduction

Sports Nutrition has undergone an incredible decade of development and growth exceeding double percentage digits.  
 
Nutritional bars are the fastest-growing market, but there has been a widening of the sports and nutrition category. Consumers in this category have changed from mostly hard-core athletes, to include more mainstream health-focused consumers who represent the major growth drivers for this global market. 

Developed regions such as the United States and some European countries have been the dominant market players, but the demand in developing countries is expected to increase with the current growing interest for health-related products. 

Measuring Sauce Texture: Dispensing from Actuated Product Containers

Actuation Force test

Actuation Force Testing allows measurement of the force required to, for example, release mustard, ketchup or salad dressing  from dispensers, such as is found in fast food restaurants. 

Manually-actuated spray pump dispensers or finger pumps rely on the consumer to generate a hydraulic pressure in the pumping engine in order to dispense the fluid. 

Dispenser designs may change or vary or the every-increasing market for child friendly products may require adaptations.

New popcorn texture measurement for booming snack sector

Popcorn is literally an exploding sector of the snack food market providing a new more healthy indulgence option that is less of a guilty pleasure. 

In contrast to the well-known sweet toffee version, we are now seeing the introduction of a myriad of flavouring choices which is injecting the element of excitement and fun into the market. 

Consumers’ growing interest in ethnic and exotic flavours has influenced brands to develop new, innovative and interesting flavours such as maple sea salt, green apple caramel, sour cream and onion, fruit chutney, pulled pork. 

The range of flavour offerings changes from country to country according to national preferences and maturity of markets.

Measuring Sauce Texture: Sachet/Tube Content Removal

The sauce market is diverse and the number of types of sauces is growing, whilst the product definitions are blurring between countries. 

Over the past years the more traditional table sauces have developed with new flavours and different packaging, and can now be seen being used as dips and marinades – a far cry from the conservative character these products had in the past.

A large proportion of condiments  and gravy stocks are now being produced in sachet or tube portions for quick and easy use, as well as to facilitate long-term storage. For products in tubes, the ability to squeeze the product out effectively is essential and is fundamental to its ease of removal from the packaging when required.

Measuring Sauce Texture: Extrudability

One of the most recent interesting innovations in the soups market was the launch of a range of Squeeze and Stir cup soups, made from concentrated purée rather than powder. These are designed to be squeezed into a cup and mixed with boiling water.

Extrudability is the work required to push or force out (or expel) a product. For products in tubes, such as syrups and icings, removal of the contents relies upon the consumer squeezing the packaging to extrude the product.

The ability to squeeze the product out effectively is essential and the consistency of the contents of a tube or sachet is therefore fundamental to its ease of removal from the packaging when required. 

Measuring Sauce Texture: Stickiness, Tailing & Stringiness

There are differences between types of sauces; tomato ketchup has a short character, whilst Asian sauces, like chilli sauce, tend to be more long in character. This textural difference is also highlighted in spoon coating and tailing when deposited.

In some foods, cohesive and adhesive properties greatly influence the performance of food before consumption, and the perception of texture in the mouth. Stickiness is commonly viewed as a negative food attribute, but in certain foods (like sweet sauces and syrups), a level of stickiness is not only tolerable but desirable. In semisolids, the stickiness is caused by sugars, fats, gums, starches or mixes of these ingredients.