EC Nutrition

There is a basic temptation in human beings to lean towards the natural products. All such developments over the last decade have resulted in increasing number of potential nutritional products with medicinal and health benefits. Due to these developments in health sector, consumers demand products like margarines and spreads with better health profile, such as, high polyunsaturated fatty acid and low energy content. There are a variety of fat spreads which serve as replacement of butter and have flooded the shelves of supermarkets to meet the ever-increasing demand of health-conscious consumers. The fat spreads are formulations that have excellent spreadability for use in our bread, and toast, etc. Low-fat spreads containing modified fat and fat replacers have been in fashion for long in western markets. Lately consumers’ demand for healthy fat spreads with specific functional attributes including fortification with micronutrients. The sole purpose of this article is to provide an overview of how the consumption of these modern fat spreads containing different functional ingredients (e.g. antioxidants, fibres, phytochemicals and micronutrients) has benefited consumers in disease prevention and has contributed to a healthy lifestyle.

Keywords: Inulin; Omega-3 Fatty Acids; Plant Sterol; Micronutrients; Fat Replacers

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