Digestive or gut health has been a key focus for product activity in functional and healthy foods for many years, but with the tightening of claims legislation, particularly in Europe, there has been something of a setback in terms of product activity in more recent times, according to Innova Market Insights.

Over 3.2% of food and drinks launches recorded by Innova carried digestive health claims of some kind in 2014, up from 2.7% five years previously. This indicates there is still ongoing interest in the sector, particularly in the U.S., where the share rose from 3.3% to over 3.6%. EU launches using a digestive health positioning fell from 2.4% to 2.2% over the same period, however.

With the claims situation becoming more difficult, companies are also focusing on the use of specific ingredients, such as whole grains and fiber, which may already be linked with digestive health in consumers’ minds. High-fiber or source-of-fiber claims were used on nearly 3.4% of food and drinks launches recorded by Innova in 2014, rising to 4.6% in the U.S. Whole grain claims were used on 2% of global launches, rising to 3.4% in the U.S.

Whole grain claims were particularly evident in categories such as cereals and bakery products. Bakery products lead globally, accounting for 21% of food and drinks launches using this type of claim, although this is equivalent to less than 6% of total bakery introductions. In addition, 5.5% of bakery launches used whole grain claims. The two claims combined featured on 9% of bakery launches, rising to 16% in the U.S.

Within the bakery market, biscuits accounted for nearly half of launches using fiber-related claims (excluding whole grains), ahead of bread. In terms of significance however, bread is a clear leader, with products featuring a high-fiber positioning accounting for 15% of bread launches, compared with just over 9% in savory biscuits and just 5% in sweet biscuits.

In the biscuits market, probably the key area of activity in high-fiber products in recent years has been in breakfast biscuits, virtually all of which are promoted as high in fiber and/or whole grains, and many of which have variants such as fruit & fiber in their ranges. This started in the U.K. in 2010, creating a new breakfast biscuits sub-category featuring a raft of new brands. It also heralded a welter of activity in other countries, including Germany, the U.S. and Australia, as well as a revitalization of existing breakfast biscuit markets in countries such as France and Spain.

“There is clearly still interest in products for digestive or gut health,” according to Lu Ann Williams, director of innovation at Innova Market Insights. “This is reflected in ongoing levels of product activity, despite some of the current regulatory issues affecting health claims, particularly in Europe.”

Companies are tending to move to a more general health and wellness positioning for their products, she noted. “They are relying more on existing consumer awareness of ingredients such as probiotics and fiber, the health benefits that they offer and the kinds of food and drinks products that they can be found in,” Ms. Williams concluded.