Frontline Food Consultants and Engineers provide a wide range of food and beverage consultancy solutions for the development and production of foods for special diets. Whether you are creating your products for patients with diseases, allergies, or who may need some special diet products such as for Celiac disease, lactose intolerance or even diabetes. Our Formulation and Customization Services could provide the perfect match for these markets. We make sure to provide the nutrient delivery that is intended while preserving taste, texture, and palatability.

We assist in Ingredient Sourcing and food Certification and offer support for various special diets including Organic, Non-GMO, allergy-friendly, and others. As a food consultation provider, our R & D team can further formulate new products like low sodium and sugar-added as well as fortified food products for the healthier consumers. We also provide  Regulatory Compliance Services, your products are analyzed in accordance to food safety and food laws. This also includes food labeling and food allergens, nutrient claims, other health benefits, etc.Our Food Packaging Solutions indeed enhances convenience and shelf life and relabels the product to note its nutritional purpose.

What are Foods for Special Dietary Use?

Food for Special Dietary Use is a type of food product that is produced to serve the purpose of responding to special demand of food products from people with special dietary requirements. This means foods for specific diseases such as diabetes, celiac disease or lactose intolerance, for nutritional purposes such as low-calorie foods, high protein foods or for specific lifestyles such as vegan, keto or gluten-free diets. These foods are formulated to contain necessary nutrients and exclude those that may be undesirable or may be unappetizing to some people.

Production of specific products that meet certain purposes requires special equipment; for instance, for mixing specific ingredients such as high protein flour, extruder for preparation of gluten-free pasta or snack bars, etc. Meat cutting and weighing apparatus allows to cut of products into appropriate portions precise, packing apparatus to seal or enclose foods in proper and proper forms of packaging conducive to maintaining the freshness of the foods. The nutritional and dietary requirement controls in products should be very much maintained by quality control in the midst of the production process and allergen control means are essential in preventing cross-contamination in the production process.

Types of Packed and Processed Foods for Special Dietary Use:

  • Gluten-Free Foods: Special foods for celiac disease which sells wheat, barley, rye to help those who are allergic to it.
  • Low-Calorie and Low-Carb Foods: Low sugar and low carbohydrate foods are those dined on in order to lose weight.
  • High-Protein Foods: Protein-fortified foods are recommendable for those with vigorous exercise regimes, sportsmen and persons who want muscles to withstand force.
  • Diabetic-Friendly Foods: Little GI for use in diabetics and the majority of the products will indicate sugar level.
  • Lactose-Free Foods: If any animal-origin food that contains milk sugar or has been prepared to fit those with sensitive stomachs, regarding.

Vegan and Plant-Based Foods: 

  • Vegan product – Carbohydrate-containing product which didn’t use any form of animal products arranged for a person having vegan or plant base diet.
  • Keto-Friendly Foods: This includes; ready meals, that are rich in fats and low in carbohydrates ideal for those on a Ketogenic diet.

Production Process

  1. Ingredient selection

Among the key techniques the following were identified as being highly significant in the achievement of the aim and objective objectives: Ingredient selection and preparation.

  • Specialized Ingredients: Products are selected based on the targeted consumer on some product attributes such as dietary needs etc. For example, baked goods replace wheat flour with rice or almond flour, and vegan goods do not contain animal proteins, such as peas or soy.
  • Nutrient Fortification: Many of the products created to meet the needs of certain segments require additions of vitamins, minerals, and/or protein. For example, in lactose-free milk, calcium, and vitamin D may be fortified while in gluten-free bread fibre may be included.
  1. Leavened Dough or Batter Formula 
  • Mixing: Drifting ingredients in high-speed blending products generates doughs or batters that have matching nutritional makeup. You will learn that the flours and starches used in gluten-free baking are not the same as all-purpose flour and they have varying mixing times and flours.
  • Fortification: In this stage, revitalizers which include protein powders, fiber supplements or low GI sugar substitutes like stevia or erythritol in respect to the foods to be manufactured like diabetic cookies, protein bar, etc.
  1. Baking, cooking or processing is also one of the division of the food industry.
  • Temperature Control: Many of the foods for special diets require that they be cooked or baked at some temperatures. Indications which relate to gluten-free and vegan baked food products such as cookies, cakes, and muffins may be able be produced in a shorter time and at low heat to avoid cases where the baked foods become over baked.
  • Advanced Processing Techniques: With manufactured vegetarian or vegan meats for example, technology used most often is extrusion which aims to mimic real meat in terms of its texture and taste sensations. This process entails the baked plant proteins at high temperature, and the other part being pressed to obtain appearance that resembles that of fibers.
  1. Flavoring and Seasoning
  • Natural Flavoring: Most special dietary foods don’t contain artificial flavors or preservatives in their preparations at all. Most of the natural herbs, spices and plant products which are used in preparing seasonings are associated with vegan or keto recipes.
  • Low-Sugar Sweetening: Low glycemic index meals and low calorie foods contain non nutritive sweeteners such as stevia or Splenda, monk fruit or erythritol.

Packaging Solutions 

  1. Eco-Friendly Packaging
  • Objective: This a perfect spot for the company to be providing green packaging design that includes recyclable packages of biodegradable material for healthy conscience consumers.
  • Materials: Sustainable or reusable consumers packaged such as paper-based pouched, biodegradable plastics or totally recyclable films.
  • Benefits: Meets the consumer’s specific dietary needs due to issues of environmental conservation, and convenience as a result of having the dietary products in sustainable packaging.
  1. MAP stands for the Modified Atmosphere Packaging.
  • Objective: Maintain the shelf life of packaged food so that there is no need of going further to include chemical preservatives to the food.
  • Materials: Multifunctional thin films of polymer metalized films with desired features such as having gaseous barrier properties.
  • Benefits: This is extended with MAP in preserving the nutrition and taste of the food since it reduces the oxygen in the bags before it is replaced by other inert gasses.
  1. Portion-Controlled Packaging
  • Objective: The portion size should remain constant in its preparation to provide nutrition that meets certain standards.
  • Materials: Disposable, individual pouches or resealable packs or containers for portion control to prevent product compromise and contamination.
  • Benefits: Perfect for take-out foods that require measured servings for Weight loss foods, Foods for diabetic patients, and High protein foods for bodybuilders or the general populace.