Last time, we briefly introduced functional beverages and their global market situation. This week, we will share information about development trend and industry regulations of functional beverages. The specific contents are as follows:

In recent years, customers have been more and more interested in products that provide immunity system support. According to the research institute Mintel, this market segment will keep growing steadily throughout and after the COVID-19. Although the sales of weight loss related products tend to decline, the overall market continues to grow, especially those beverages that help maintain normal immunity system function.

In the future, innovative research on functional beverages may focus on market segments such as bones, joints, eyes, sleep improvement, weight management, cholesterol management, teeth protection, and beverages for specific parts of body.

It is expected that functional beverages containing additional protein also have greater growth potential. According to Mintel, 30% of adults believe that products with high protein content are healthier than other products. Most importantly, protein is usually related to weight management and muscle exercise, and vegetarians and vegans also pay attention to the intake of plant-based protein.

More and more adults avoid excessive sugar consumption, which is another obvious trend. "No added sugar" is one of the common requirements for foods and beverages today.

Although the current functional beverages are mainly non-alcoholic drinks, common non-alcoholic drinks are seeking new breakthroughs, and many manufactures are trying to incorporate alcohol elements. For example, adding alcohol to coffee, sparkling beverages and juices. Low-alcohol or zero-alcohol functional beverages with alcoholic taste may be the next industry trend.

In general, the demand for ingredients that help strengthen immune system in functional beverages has increased significantly during COVID-19. In terms of the beverages consumption frequency and popularity, fruits ranked first as a beverage ingredient with health-related claims (32%), followed by added vitamin (31%), electrolytes (28%), protein (25%) and vegetables (19%).

EFSA and FDA mainly focus on the safety and health claims of functional beverages. As most sports and energy beverages are innovative in taste and raw materials with special effects are used, it is the focus of regulatory agencies to ensure that the product claims provided by manufactures are true, accurate and easy to understand for customers. For example, Spain's Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) recently released a survey research report on functional beverages, pointing out the consumption of functional beverages is increasing, especially among young people.

AESAN reiterated its advice to customers, especially young people and minors: to reduce the consumption of certain energy beverages, because some of the ingredients (such as caffeine) may affect sleep quality and cardiovascular health. AESAN also said it would cooperate more closely with manufactures to ensure that all active ingredients and contents are indicated on product labels to help customers make better decisions.

Please click Introduction & Global Market Analysis of Functional Beverages to get more information.

Source: China Food Newspaper

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