Silent redesign should lead the way of calorie reduction, but better research is needed on the best way to convey such changes to consumers.Ciarán Forde, Senior Principal Investigator in Sensory Nutritional Science at the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, and Edward Everson, RD & A Manager at Kerry, Europe and Russia, discuss this and more in a FoodIngredientsFirst-hosted webinar entitled Calorie Reduction: Formulating for Sensory Success from Kerry Health Nutrition Institute (KHNI).

“Calorie reduction is not a passing trend. In fact, it will become something that is a critical component of how we design foods in the future as there is an increasing consumer-led demand for less energy density in the food broader environment. Initiatives like potential energy-density taxes, as well as negative associations with energy-dense food, have led to the intersection of calorie reduction and other emerging trends,” says Forde.

Other dominant trends include personalized food and nutrition; the move toward sustainable and plant-based foods for the health of humans and the planet; and clean label. Everson highlights that reformulation is being seen a great deal in meat-alternatives as developers try to overcome the challenges associated with keeping desirable textures. 

Additionally, other health-related labeling trends unrelated to energy density, such as those regarding salt-reduction or organic products has led to a health halo effect, with consumers underestimating the calorie content of these items. “For example, people selec larger quantities of organic products because they falsely believe them to be healthier on the whole. This is a form of licensing wher consumers feel entitled to consume more because they think it is healthier, thus undoing all the hard work of reformulation,” explains Forde.

As well as consumers’ estimation of foods’ calorie content tending to be highly inaccurate, they also often perceive calorie-reduced foods differently. “We usually test products blinded, wher consumers do not know that there has been a calorie reformulation. The knowledge can lead to a significant impact on the perception of the product, with sensory qualities purported to change even when they are exactly the same,” Forde notes. 

On the flip side, however, consumers often report an increased liking of a product if they are informed of the calorie reformulation after they have tasted it. “The issue here is that people are just trying to sound healthy, when in reality, what they say and what they do can be quite different,” says Everson.

This means that not explicitly advertising calorie reformulation on products could lead to better health benefits. Direct communication of calorie reduction may have undesirable side-effects in terms of later energy intake behaviors. This could be in the form of licensing greater calorie intake from other foods or through the consumption of a larger selection of calorie-reduced food. “If you don’t want to jeopardize the hedonic appeal of your food or lead to higher calorie intake in the short-term, it is worth staying silent,” says Forde.

Another tactic some companies are taking is to retrospectively declare reformulation after a sustained consumer satisfaction is observed. However, Everson does consider the ethics of not explicitly informing consumers of a change. “Although the information can be found on the nutritional label, many people rarely dive into this. You need to tell people what they are eating.” Meanwhile, Forde argues that in the absence of a definitive answer about the best way of informing people about calorie intake, it is best to not communicate the change immediately and to research a better way of conveying the nutritional alterations. 

Additionally, many producers assert that if the trouble has been taken to reformulate a product, that characteristic is now a benefit that should be advertised. “It is a difficult balance between showcasing reformulation and not encouraging increasing product intake,” concludes Forde. 

This online seminar can be fully listened to here. KHNI experts also provided key examples and analyses of successful modifications in the past, as well as in-depth research on the challenges of reducing fat and sugar.