The modern food industry is becoming increasingly integrated in the areas of nutrition, diet and health. As people in the developed world grow more health conscious, there is an ever-growing need for foods made from natural ingredients that have positive health benefits. Hence, there is constant product development pressure in the new and expanding food segments. The traditional food industry has a need to offer innovative new products for the consumer.

The challenge in the new food industry is to find:

• Natural ingredients
• Safe, scientifically tested ingredients that give existing products a physiologically functional dimension and character
• Simple, low cost methods for production
• Ingredients that adapt to existing production methods
• Ingredients which help to maintain good taste, colour or structure
• Ingredients that are easy to process