AltaBioscience is Sponsoring Food Matters Live Trend Panel:
Functional Foods in 2023

Following a very successful virtual panel on immune health in October, we are pleased to announce that we will be again sponsoring the Food Matters Live panel on 15th December 2022, 14:30-16:00 BST entitled: “A taste of trends: Functional foods in 2023”. This interactive panel will be followed by a live Q&A session to allow you to ask questions to the expert panellists.

In recent years, functional food and beverage products have become extremely popular among consumers, with the global market projected to reach USD 529 billion in 2028, almost double the 2020 market value.¹ During this informative panel, distinguished experts from both the health education and data analysis industries, will analyse the driving factors responsible for this rising demand for functional foods. They will also discuss what consumers are looking for in terms of new products, as well as provide crucial insights for businesses operating in this area.

Functional foods can be defined as foods or drinks that deliver additional health benefits over their basic nutritional value when consumed as part of a varied diet and on a regular basis. They encompass a wide and diverse range of food and drink products and ingredients, including conventional foods, fortified or enhanced foods, medical foods and foods for special dietary use. Functional foods are popular choices to improve health, for instance, in sectors such as sports nutrition, weight management, immune health and gut health.

In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a dual impact on people’s behaviours. On one hand, an increased number of people and households reverted to unhealthy eating and lifestyle as well as getting less active as a result of the successive lockdowns. On the other hand, the pandemic was also a wake-up call to many who re-evaluated their health and lifestyle and with 7 in 10 adults in the UK motivated to make positive changes to get healthier in 2021.² As functional foods have the potential to bolster physical and mental health, the demand for these products recently intensified due to consumers’ growing interest and focus on improving their health.³

This was also possible due to intensive research and new product development from the food industry that made the introduction of new and innovative products happen in the market. In addition, the rising awareness of consumers toward the health benefits of functional food products due to increased marketing and communication from companies and health specialists alike is also a key factor that has contributed to fuelling the demand for functional food products.⁴

Marion Peak, managing director at AltaBioscience, says: “Health specialists and companies have undeniably played a huge role in informing and educating consumers about the role of nutrition and functional foods to optimise health and prevent chronic diseases. This has contributed to the growing acceptance of functional foods by consumers and stimulated their demand, which companies have overwhelmingly responded to by releasing new and innovative products such as snacks or energy drinks with instant enhanced nutrition. In the last few years, here at AltaBioscience, we’ve certainly seen an increase in requests for the analysis of these new food and drink products and supplements.”

AltaBioscience, which delivers rapid amino acid analysis worldwide, has been supporting companies from the food, drink and nutraceutical industries for almost five decades with their routine testing and new product development by profiling the nutritional protein content of new ingredients, raw materials, food and drink samples and dietary supplements.

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and being involved in all metabolic processes, they are essential to life. They are found in high concentrations in protein-rich foods such as meat and plant-based ingredients such as soybean, but can also be manufactured via protein hydrolysis, chemical synthesis, or biotechnological methods to be extensively used in nutritional supplements, food and feed additives or as flavour enhancers.⁵

Although our bodies are able to synthesise some amino acids, a few amino acids which are essential to health must come from our diet to avoid any deficiencies. Amino acid analysis provides crucial information about the amino acid composition and total protein content of any products containing amino acids, peptides or proteins and can be performed as part of regulatory or quality control checks during production or to make sure the nutritional requirements are fulfilled in the final products.

Accredited to ISO/ILEC 17025, AltaBioscience offers two amino acid analysis services providing accurate quantification of all 20 natural amino acids as well as many non-standard amino acids. Its total amino acid service quantifies the amino acids bound within proteins along with those present as individual unbound units, and the free amino acid service determines the amount of each amino acid not bound to a protein – information that is particularly important, for instance, in the analysis of taurine in nutritional sports drinks.

Read more about our amino acid analysis service.

About AltaBioscience

AltaBioscience provides amino acid analysis, protein sequencing and custom peptide synthesis services globally. With a heritage dating back to 1973, the company serves an international customer base that includes academic, pharmaceutical, healthcare and food industry-related researchers and product development specialists.

AltaBioscience is accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 by UKAS, the National Accreditation Body for the United Kingdom, for its demonstrated expertise, technical ability and commitment to quality in both amino acid analysis and N-terminal protein sequencing.