Term Paper on "Development of an Innovative Healthy Food Product"

Term Paper 8 pages (2423 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Nutrition

Development of an Innovative Healthy Food Product

Abstract (or Summary)

This is a proposal for the development of an organic, pasteurized, health fruit drink for the client, Mapco. The client has presented a need for a product that would appeal to the 41% of its customers who wish a delicious, refreshing, organic health drink. This proposal shows how the health drink described fits all of the qualifications outlined by the client. Scientific research guiding development of this product revealed a natural process that utilizes all the parts of the apples and oranges, which it uses, including the fruit's skin and pulp, which are full of nutritionally valuable minerals and vitamins that other squeezed juices must leave out, normally discarded in processing. The proposal also identifies key factors in marketing this health drink and presents a bold plan for product development. The scope of the proposal includes the process involved in the production of the health food drink, and the results of research on the benefits of the all-natural process that will be used that allows the health drink to retain all the beneficial elements of whole fruit, without adding chemicals. It also includes issues that may be encountered in marketing in regard to advantages for the manufacturer and consumer.

Development of an Innovative Healthy Food Product

Tango (a temporary pseudonym), the organic, health fruit drink, is unique in its creation and benefits to the consumer. First, it uses the entire fruit, including skin and pulp of the apple and orange, in a process that has no waste and includes all vitamins and minerals normally gained by eating a fresh piece of fruit (but lost by drinking a squeezed juice from these fruits). Secondly, it contains a known anticancer ingredient. Thirdly, it has been pasteurized to create pleasing appearance and color, as well as guaranteeing destruction of a deadly bacilli that sometimes develops in fresh fruit juice.

The benefits to health in the process of growth are based on mass effect of diffusion. When a fruit is growing, chemical elements making up molecules of living things pass through food webs and are combined and recombined in different ways. At each link in a food web, some energy is stored in newly made structures. Continual input of energy from sunlight keeps the process going. Atoms often join with one another in various combinations in distinct molecules or in repeating three-dimensional crystal patterns. The configuration of atoms in a molecule determines the molecule's properties and shapes are particularly important in how large molecules interact with others. The structure of these molecules creates each nutrient found in a growing fruit, such as Vitamin C or calcium. (MOLO, 2006)

Production of Tango

The process by which Tango is made uses pectinases and other natural enzymes to free the nutrients from the configuration of a fruit body. The process is fairly new and complicated, compared to the traditional production of fruit juices through squeezing. In squeezing a fruit, the juices are expelled, but the pulp, skin and other non-liquid parts of the fruit are considered waste and are discarded. Unfortunately, a good part of the nutrient in a fruit is found in the part that is usually discarded during the squeezing process.

Pectinases have been used since before the 1930s in preparing wines at home, when the early use of pectinase to clarify apple juice was developed. However, it wasn't until the 1960's that the structure of plant tissue became evident and enzymes were begun to be used more effectively. Pectinases began to be used to extract, clarify and modify juices from many crops, as well as to enhance or perform other modifications of the product (In a jam, 2000, p. 7). Pectinases are used in the citrus juice industry to assist the removal of pectin and release of juice in fruit pulp.

Vitamins are necessary for growth and maintenance of life. Most vitamins are not absorbed into the body at a rate sufficient to meet the needs of an active person, but are constantly taken in, in small quantities, during the bacterial synthesizing process of the gastro-intestinal tract. Distinct morphological and physiological deficiency signs become evident when individual vitamins are absent from one's diet. (FAO, 2006) The majority of vitamins necessary to support one's daily requirements will be present in Tango, the health fruit drink.

In addition to the well-known benefits of deriving both minerals and vitamins from whole fruit, it will additionally be found that useful medication benefits are also derived from other natural ingredients of organic, growing matter, such as paclitaxel, an effective agent in the treatment of ovarian and possibly other cancers, and possibly an effective remedy for other human diseases. Where paclitaxel or other taxanes are not found in the fruit used to produce Tango in sufficient quantities, this ingredient will be added to the health drink. It is found in the fungus isolated from the inner bark of the Pacific yew tree, as well as other taxanes. Therefore, with the addition of minute quantities of paclitaxel, this invigorating health fruit drink will also become a natural anticancer agent. (Katz, 2001)

Pasteurization will also be a part of the process of Tango. The FDA, in October of 2004 warned consumers about risks associated with unpasteurized juices. Investigating a forborne disease outbreak possibly linked to consumption of unpasteurized apple cider, the FDA reminded consumer that there are health risks associated with drinking juice that has not been treated in any way to kill harmful bacteria. They asked that the following warning be placed on unpasteurized fruit juice products: "WARNING: This product has not been pasteurized and therefore may contain harmful bacteria that can cause serious illness in children, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems." (FDA, 2004) Pasteurization is a crucial step in the production of Tango.

Intellectual Property

The ingredients, by law, must be listed on the label of the product, but the special processes by which the juices are extracted from the whole fruit are considered intellectual property and will not be disclosed. The value of the intellectual property, including patents and trademarks on the process of enzymatic extraction belonging to Tango, is intrinsic, but can generate significant financing options on their own. As such they could be used as collateral for securitization or lending and as such they need to be safeguarded and kept confidential. This must be taken into account when hiring production managers and workers in the plants where Tango is produced.

Government Regulations Regarding Ingredients and Labeling

All ingredients in the product have been approved by the FDA. The breakdown of vitamins and minerals in the health drink are listed on the label. The information in the main or top section on the nutrition label on the product contains product-specific information such as serving size, calories, and nutrient information. The bottom part of the label contains a footnote with Daily Values (DVs) for 2,000 and 2,500 calorie diets. This footnote provides recommended dietary information for important nutrients, including fats, sodium and fiber. (Nutridata, 2004)

Consumer Acceptance and Education major advertising and consumer education campaign will accompany the introduction of this health fruit drink to the market. The benefits of organic gardening and how it differs from conventional fruit growth will be explained in several key ways: Relationships with producers, who generally benefit from contracting a large portion of their crop are cultivated and producers are urged to meet quality standards in growing, fertilizing, bagging, storage and delivery processes. To avoid contamination and preserve organic integrity, growers document measures taken to maintain organic standards from planting through harvest. Varietal selection and harvest dates are recorded. Equipment used for harvesting and transporting the fruit is watched and recorded; care is taken not to commingle or allow physical contamination of the product. The fruit is cleaned and the equipment is sterilized before production even begins. subject=Marketing%20Organic%20Grains" (Born, 2005) Once the consumer knows how carefully preproduction efforts are maintained, they will begin to understand that the producer is a serious, large-scale agent and fully capable of creating a top-quality product and maintaining the highest standards while doing so.

The production of the fruit juice itself will be highly regulated, through the enzymatic process and pasteurization and into the bottling and labeling processes. A tinted, glass bottle will be used to keep harmful rays from penetrating and changing the composition of the health fruit drink. The bottle will be made of glass to avoid any kind of decomposition possibilities that plastic or other biodegradable products may contaminate the product.

Advantages to the Consumer

Creating a tasteful, healthy fruit drink has obvious benefits for the consumer in terms of the consumer's senses (sight, taste and texture) and health (no harmful ingredients, full range of vitamins and minerals that may be derived from whole fruit, and an additional anticancer agent). All this in a moderately priced drink that is nutritiously advantageous and superior to other fruit juice drinks in every way.

Advantages to the Manufacturer

The advantages of producing Tango, a… READ MORE

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