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The snack is suitable for children and is prepared without frying and retains the crunchy texture of nibbles of this type
Bilbao. 17 June 2014). In its quest for new, healthier and more innovative food products, AZTI’s Food Research Unit has formulated for the company Celigüeta some novel ketchup-flavoured Potato Sticks without frying oil and with Omega 3 and 6 essential fatty acids. This is a nibble with an optimum lipid profile and adapted to the needs of children whom they are geared towards. Adult consumers are increasingly concerned about the food children eat, which has prompted the R&D centre and Celigüeta to develop this nibble, which is already on sale.
Omega 3 & 6 are essential fatty acids that are necessary for children’s growth and cognitive development. Apart from the Omega 3 & 6 acids, “this snack is especially suited to children because it has not undergone frying and, therefore, the sticks can remain stable for longer and thus offer a product with a lipid profile of high nutritional quality,” stressed Josune Ayo, researcher in the Department of New Foods at AZTI. “The absence of frying does not diminish the organoleptic properties of the product, which has the crunchy texture and taste belonging to nibbles of this type,” she added.
Children’s dietary trends detected by AZTI’s Food Research Unit have been taken very much into consideration in the formulation of these ketchup-flavoured Potato Sticks with Omega 3 & 6 essential fatty acids. In this respect, the consumer is increasingly concerned about his/her own health and that of his/her children and is seeking products that satisfy his/her own nutritional needs and those of all the members of the family. Another consumer trend detected is the public preference for foods adapted to different stages of life, as in the case of children and elderly people. In this respect, the new Potato Sticks are the ideal nibble for children.
The new Potato Sticks are part of a much more ambitious project between AZTI and Celigüeta; the two organisations have been working together for the last eight years to produce foods with an optimum lipid and nutritional profile. In this context, they have been tackling the development of innovative products that even entail the development, in collaboration with hospitals, etc., of nutritional intervention tests designed to prevent obesity. Their aim is to design a range of appetizers with a reduced saturated fat and trans fatty acid content but which, at the same time, have unsaturated fatty acids of a healthier type.
AZTI and Celigüeta
AZTI and Celigüeta are participating in joint research projects geared towards designing appetizer products that will substitute saturated and trans fats for healthier unsaturated oils. As a result of this collaboration, Celigüeta remains an active reference in the manufacture, distribution and sale of nibbles and potato crisps.
AZTI-Tecnalia, the expert R+D Centre in Marine and Foodstuff Research, is a Foundation that has its sights set on social development and the enhancement of competitiveness in its sectors of action -the sea and foodstuffs-, by means of technological research and innovation.
