Nature and Gut in Harmony
with VITACEL® Wheat Fiber
Dietary VITACEL® Wheat Fiber
VITACEL® WF is suitable for fiber fortification in various food categories without compromising consumer acceptance. They help to close the fiber gap and support normal bowel function.
10 Good Reasons:
- Highly purified insoluble fibers
- Standardized and consistent qualities
- Neutral taste and off-white color
- Gluten-free
- Clean label
- Additional nutritional value for food products
- Fewer calories by fiber fortification
- Food reformulation for balanced nutrition
- Support normal bowel function
- Promotion of gut microbiota diversity
ADD ADDITIONAL VALUE TO YOUR FOOD PRODUCTS!
VITACEL®… purified, and highly concentrated, dietary Wheat Fiber
VITACEL® Wheat Fiber is a highly purified dietary fiber concentrate. The exact fiber concentration accounts for 97%. This is much more in comparison to other dietary fiber sources like wheat bran (Figure 1). Due to the high fiber content and the negligible fat content VITACEL® Wheat Fiber have a very long shelf life. Existing fat, such as that in bran, shortens the shelf life because it is prone to oxidation and often becomes rancid (Table 1).
“A fiber content twice as high as that of wheat bran.”
Mainly composed out of cellulose and hemicellulose, VITACEL® Wheat Fiber is predominantly insoluble and constitute a natural product that is excellent in terms of sustainability. Through careful processing steps, high standardization and different lengths VITACEL® Wheat Fiber is produced so that it may be safely incorporated into food products as well as provide technical functionality at optimal levels. As an odorless ingredient that is neutral in taste and off-white in color, consumers are unable to notice their incorporation in the final food products.
Table 1: Comparison of characteristic properties of VITACEL® Wheat Fiber and a standard wheat bran
Property | VITACEL® Wheat Fiber | Standard Wheat Bran |
|---|---|---|
Color | Off-White | Brown |
Flavor | Neutral | Typical bran taste |
Gluten | No | Yes |
Phytic aid | - | 5% |
Shelf life | 5 years | 3 months |
Including VITACEL® “wheat fiber” in the ingredient list may aid in the ability to make claims such as “gluten-free”, “high in fiber” or “source of fiber” possible.
VITACEL® Wheat Fiber makes it easy to raise the fiber content significantly without impacting the taste. Depending on the resulting fiber content, they allow for global use of different existing nutrition claims. A product that e.g. “contains fiber”, is “rich in fiber”, “high in fiber” or even an “excellent source of fiber” will stick out of the product range. For several years, claims related to fibers have been some of the fastest growing nutrition claims and there is a clear tendency that this trend will continue.
Adding wheat fiber for nutritional reason can help to keep product labels clean. According to the Codex Alimentarius, which has been established by FAO and WHO, “Dietary fiber is defined as carbohydrate polymers with ten or more monomeric units, which are not hydrolyzed by the endogenous enzymes in the small intestine of humans […]”. In the case of our VITACEL® Wheat Fiber, it belongs to “carbohydrate polymers, which have been obtained from food raw material […] and which have been shown to have a physiological effect or benefit to health […].” This means that consumers who look on the backside of the enriched products will not find VITACEL® Wheat Fiber within the list of food additives, but as a simple food ingredient declared as “wheat fiber”, “wheat stem fiber”, “wheat plant fiber” or similar comprehensible terms.
The term clean label also refers to the current trend of products “free from…” multiple substances including gluten. Consumers believe that diets without gluten are healthier and therefore 18% consider it important to avoid gluten (1, 1, 2). It is mandatory to highlight wheat as a gluten containing cereal as an allergen. However, VITACEL® Wheat Fiber is free from gluten and thus, can be labeled “Wheat Fiber (gluten-free)”.
Food product reformulation with VITACEL® Wheat Fiber for the compatibility of taste, convenience and a healthy lifestyle
VITACEL® Wheat Fiber is not only consumer friendly from a labelling perspective. It also delivers the increasingly demanded additional value in terms of health. Changing lifestyles created changes in nutrition habits. A more on the go lifestyle and a lack of cooking knowledge has helped to create the current reality that today’s population ingests nearly half of overall nutritional energy through highly processed foods (3). While there is no need to judge processed foods per se, there is a need to create those products in a healthy manner. A healthy product selection currently requires nutritional basic knowledge or at least the willingness of consumers to acquire information, though the healthiest choice should be the easiest one (4).
A recent survey yielded that for 98% of the population a good taste of food products is important. For almost as many (90%) it is also important that the food is healthy (5). However, consumers like the taste of convenience products and whether due to dietary habits or the lack of healthier options, it seems to be difficult for them to consider nutritional recommendations.
A double-blind investigation compared product approval between VITACEL® Wheat Fiber enriched and placebo products. The different products received almost identical scores with 6.0 ± 0.4 for the fiber enriched versions and 5.9 ± 0.4 for the placebo versions (scale 1 – 10 ) (6). This shows that it is possible to fortify food without negatively affecting taste. VITACEL® Wheat Fiber not only delivers additional value, but also reduce energy content. With two kilocalories per gram or even zero, according to the national regulation, fiber is an ingredient with one of the lowest energy densities, making it perfectly suited for food product reformulation.
Product approval score: 6.0 (fiber-enriched) vs. 5.9
Adding fiber – removing calories: Healthy products that do not differ from popularly consumed products have the power to close the fiber gap and help to bring nutrition back in balance, giving consumers the taste and nutrition they are looking for.
“Pizza and healthy nutrition no longer have to be a contradiction.”
VITACEL® Wheat Fiber not only provides gut health, it has a systemic effect on the entire metabolism giving it the potential to counteract chronic diseases
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the daily intake of 25 g dietary fiber in order to prevent diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (7). In 2017, these diet-related NCDs caused 255 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) (8). The fact that the lack of dietary fibers is one of the key factors highlights the urgent need to close the “fiber-gap”.
Based on direct effects and indirect mechanisms fibers can affect the bowel function as well as the entire metabolism. If you are interested in how VITACEL® Wheat Fiber helps to improve gut health and what role they play in maintaining a healthy metabolism please fill out the form below.
Summary: Simples steps towards balanced nutrition and a healthy metabolism
VITACEL® Wheat Fiber makes it easy to fortify food and provide a simple way for greater well-being.
- VITACEL® WF is available in different lengths but consistently high qualities.
- Its neutral appearance makes it easy to fortify all foods from baked goods to sausage products.
- Consumers are not forced to adapt to a different taste or even different foods if they want to enjoy a more balanced diet.
- A balanced diet rich in fiber maintains normal bowel function and promotes gut microbiota diversity (9).
- An intact bowel function and systemically effective fermentation products ensure overall well-being and a healthy metabolism.
Please fill out the form if you would like to download the Wheat Fiber brochure.
Literature Cited
2. Mintel. Nutrition Drinks - US; 2019.
3. Machado PP, Steele EM, Levy RB, Sui Z, Rangan A, Woods J et al. Ultra-processed foods and recommended intake levels of nutrients linked to non-communicable diseases in Australia: evidence from a nationally representative cross-sectional study. BMJ Open 2019 [cited 2020 Jun 5]; 9(8):e029544.
4. WHO. The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion: First International Conference on Health Promotion: World Health Organization; 1986 [cited 2020 Jun 4]. Available from: URL: https://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/previous/ottawa/en/index1.html.
5. Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft. Deutschland, wie es isst: Der BMEL-Ernährungsreport 2020. Berlin; Mai 2020 [cited 2020 Jun 4]. Available from: URL: https://www.in-form.de/fileadmin/Dokumente/Materialien/2020-ernaehrungsreport-bmel.pdf.
6. Wit N de, Esser D, Siebelink E, Fischer A, Sieg J, Mes J. Extrinsic wheat fibre consumption enhances faecal bulk and stool frequency; a randomized controlled trial. Food Funct. 2019; 10(2):646–51.
7. Joint WHO/FAO Expert Consultation on Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases. Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases. Geneva; 2002. WHO technical report series 916 [cited 2020 Jun 4]. Available from: URL: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/42665/WHO_TRS_916.pdf;jsessionid=097A5C02A9DB9E5DA0BC182C44DD0458?sequence=1.
8. Afshin A, Sur PJ, Fay KA, Cornaby L, Ferrara G, Salama JS et al. Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. The Lancet 2019 [cited 2020 Jun 4]; 393(10184):1958–72.
9. Lange K, Maathuis A. Effect of test products on the composition and activity of the microbiota in the dynamic in vitro model simulating the proximal colon,
TIM-2. unpublished data: Triskelion; 2020.