VITAFACTS FROM VITAFOODS

More accurately opinions rather than facts, but here are some of the learnings I gleaned from my visit to the Vitafoods exhibition in Geneva last week.

• Why haven’t I seen a milk with added vitamin K2 ? It seems the problem with calcium for many people is not lack of availability, but lack of bio-availability. Apparently, vitamin K2 can help us absorb calcium better.

• Are old style flavour houses a thing of the past ? I heard that taste and colour are no longer sufficient without considerations of nutrition or function for an increasingly broad range of products. That suggests further structural change in the ingredients sector.

• On selecting functional winners, the three leading themes I picked up were cognitive, energy and immunity – which made great sense to me. In our ever more demanding world, we want to use our capabilities better, with extra enthusiasm and without setbacks. It’s all about living life to the full.

• On the difference between energy shots and energy drinks, it was put to me that energy shots have to be more edgy and experimental than energy drinks. This might help explain why some energy drinks have not transferred so well without translation.