Eating Habits and Sustainable Food Production in the Development of Innovative “Healthy” Snacks

Abstract

In recent years, science about nutrition and food technology has grown enormously. These advances have provided information about the human body’s need for certain nutrients and the impact of human nutrition on quality of life and health. New technologies enable the production of many new products that meet the expectations of food consumers. To meet the challenges posed by consumers, food producers are developing new food products that are included in the next generation food. Changing nutritional trends force the food industry and technologists to look for innovative products that are not only ready for immediate consumption, but are also unique in terms of nutritional value and contain a minimum number of additives. Existing research trends are intended to develop innovative products, which can be considered a healthy snack that can help in the fight against obesity, especially among children. Such products are freeze-dried fruit or vegetable gels, fruit skins or edible films. The aim of the work is to present a review of the problem of increasing childhood obesity, the place of snacks in the daily diet and the possibility of replacing unhealthy, high-calorie snacks with alternative products with beneficial properties, in which balanced production is used. For example, the use of freeze-drying and the addition of only natural hydrocolloids provides an “clean label” healthy snack that is appreciated by conscious consumers.

Design of Healthy Snack Based on Kiwifruit

“…Recently, consumers are more interested in sustainable food production, owing to the growing awareness of environmental pollution and the high amount of waste generated during conventional food processing. Moreover, they are searching for food products with improved safety, as well as healthy aspects [ 1 , 2 ].…”

“…Hence the food industry’s focus on developing healthy fruit snacks, which could provide consumers with nutrient-dense energy snacks. Healthy snacks are defined as snacks containing a high number of beneficial ingredients that have a positive effect on human health, and usually well-balanced nutrients [ 2 ]. Dried fruits are considered a healthier alternative to popular snacks rich in sugar or salt and the recommendations for their consumption are constantly present in the dietary guidelines of many countries [ 6 ].…”

“…On the basis of the drying methods used, different products could be obtained. Convective drying of a mixture of fruit puree or concentrated fruit juice with other ingredients such as sugars, hydrocolloids, and so on is used to obtain fruit leathers, a thin flexible layer that shows a texture similar to a soft leather [ 2 , 8 ]. However, owing to a long exposure of the products to high temperatures, thermolabile compounds could be lost and some other chemical and physical changes may occur in the products [ 9 ].…”

Enrichment of Mango Fruit Leathers with Natal Plum (Carissa macrocarpa) Improves Their Phytochemical Content and Antioxidant Properties

“…Azeredo et al [9] demonstrated six months' shelf life without preservatives for mango fruit leathers with low water activity (0.62), low pH (3.8), and a moisture content of 17.2%. Furthermore, although low moisture content can extend shelf life by preventing the fruit leathers from inhibiting microbial growth, the texture of the fruit leathers can be negatively affected due to extensive crispiness of the product [43,44]. The sugar content was 40.85 g/100 g-about 6.12 g of sugar for three servings of one fruit bar (5 g).…”

Erratum: Ciurzyńska, A., et al. Eating Habits and Sustainable Food Production in the Development of Innovative “Healthy” Snacks (Running Title: Innovative and “Healthy” Snacks). Sustainability 2019, 11, 2800

“…The authors would like to make the following correction to the published paper [1]. The change is as follows:…”