Product diversification can be difficult at best, but bakers have found a new and healthful way to add value to their products. Functional ingredients give products added nutritional benefits beyond which they were initially intended. The list of functional ingredients is long and includes those that provide nutritional enhancement, fortification or biologically active components that induce positive physiological effects. Functional ingredients include superfruits high in antioxidant potential, vitamins and minerals, prebiotics, probiotics, fiber, whole grains, flax, omega-3s, plant sterols and soy and dairy protein, among others.

Consumers are increasingly searching for ways of improving health and wellness through their diet. Baking Management recognizes the following new product introductions for their ingenuity and ability to provide added value through nutrition and fortification.

Attune® Granola Probiotic Wellness Bars
Attune Foods, San Francisco

While once associated with yogurt, probiotics now are finding application in other product categories, particularly cereals and baked products. Attune Granola Probiotic Wellness Bars, made by San Francisco-based Attune Foods, provides one such example. Flavors include Strawberry Bliss, Wild Berry, Lemon Crème, Mango Peach, Peanut Butter and Chocolate and Chewy Chocolate. Attune's probiotic granola bars are available in the refrigerated yogurt aisle, a first for a granola bar, at more than 4,000 retailers throughout the United States. And, the bars have been well received by consumers, according to the company.

“Attune Foods was founded as a company dedicated to creating great tasting foods that promote health and wellness, so adding functional ingredients was job one when we decided to do a granola bar,” says Rob Hurlbut, C.E.O., Attune Foods. “Our primary focus when rolling out the Attune Probiotic Granola Wellness Bar was to promote digestive health and immunity through the addition of live active cultures.” Attune's granola bars contain three probiotic cultures, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium lactis.

The granola bars not only contain probiotics, but prebiotics as well. Probiotics' population in the gut can be enhanced by the presence of prebiotics, specific ingredients that serve as food for the probiotics. Examples of prebiotics include inulin, resistant starch, polydextrose, certain lactose derivatives, including lactulose and tagatose, and certain gums including gum acacia, guar gum and pectin. Products that contain both prebiotics and probiotics act symbioticly.

While the granola itself is baked, the bars themselves are not, since the source of probiotics Attune uses in its granola bars is temperature sensitive. “This exemplifies the care and thought required in the manufacturing process to ensure the functional ingredient remains viable and effective for consumers throughout the shelf life of the product,” Hurlbut says.

Isabella's Functional Muffins
Isabella's Healthy Bakery, a div. of Main Street Gourmet, Akron, Ohio

Although functional beverages have proliferated supermarket aisles for several years now, Isabella's Functional Muffins are one of the first of its kind to hit the baking industry. Isabella's line of functional muffins includes Optimize, an antioxidant-rich variety; Activate, a probiotic fortified muffin; and Revitalize, a peanut butter and chocolate chip muffin containing energy-boosting compounds.

Optimize is made with blueberries, blackberries and raspberries; açai and pomegranate extract; and further enriched with antioxidant vitamins C and E. This antioxidant-rich muffin reportedly helps prevent cell destruction by inactivating free radicals, and improves immunity and heart health.

Activate is a raisin bran muffin made with GanedenBC³⁰ (Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086), a highly survivable probiotic that supports digestive health. GanedenBC³⁰ is a patented probiotic produced by Mayfield, Ohio-based Ganeden Biotech. According to Ganeden Biotech, the bacteria not only survive harsh manufacturing processes, but deliver 10 times the live cells as yogurt.

The third muffin in the line — Revitalize — contains added vitamins B6 and B12, and energy-boosting compounds, such as guarana, taurine and inositol, to further increase energy, support cellular regeneration and promote healthy organ systems, including the nervous system and skin.