The Race to Make Healthy More Tasty in 2010

NASHVILLE, TN--(Marketwire - March 1, 2010) - With a major sugar holiday behind us in 2010, it's time to gravitate back towards healthy snacks and nutrition bars. Research and development manager, Pierre Buisson at Standard Functional Foods Group says the challenge for food companies is to make nutritional options taste good without adding numbers to the scale.

"The bread industry discovered how to make white bread whole grain without changing its appearance," says Buisson. "The health food industry has a similar challenge; make a nutritious bar that tastes like a candy bar."

Indulgence without guilt is what Buisson says consumers are looking for and nutrition companies are trying to achieve. At Standard Functional Foods Group, Buisson runs point in developing those unique combinations that are nutritious yet delicious.

"Different versions of chocolate, peanuts and caramels can really be a powerhouse of taste for nutrition bars," says Buisson. "Caramels can help mask some of the nutritional flavors that are less than pleasing to the palate."

Standard Functional Foods Group has a long history of coming up with the right ingredient combinations. When the company was first established in 1901 as the Standard Candy Company, it was credited with inventing the world's first combination candy bar, "Goo Goo Cluster," consisting of chocolate, caramel, marshmallow and peanuts.

Today, the company's focus is on nutritious bars and snacks but as experts in taste, Buisson says his company has a creative position to develop new products that will change the future of functional foods.

"We are living in very stressful times," says Buisson. "People want to snack on comfort foods but they are under constant pressure to monitor their health. The health food industry is in a unique position to help and potentially bring a new era of comfort foods to Americans."

Some of the newer innovations Buisson anticipates for nutritional bars and snacks include minimizing sugars and increasing B-vitamins, escalating flavor intensities of snacks to suppress the urge to overindulge and providing smaller, low-calorie servings while balancing the protein profile. Another secret is ensuring the snack not only has a great taste but a good texture.

Standard Functional Foods Group's highly qualified research and development team has in-depth knowledge and broad experience in a wide-range of food categories include: whole foods, weight management, functional foods, sports nutrition/energy and healthy snacks (http://www.sffgi.com).

Contact Information: Media Contact: Amy Summers 727-848-1618 ext. 202 Pitch Inc.