♦ The Journal of Food Science published a study showing that fortifying sauces with micro- and macronutrients may improve energy intake for hospitalized older people.
We’ve always enjoyed tomato sauce or brown sauce on our food but fortifying it helps make it all the more healthy, especially for those suffering illness.
Those of us over 65 do not consume enough energy and important nutrients to support our basic needs and requirements. To remedy this situation, researchers at the University of Reading in the UK fortified tomato, gravy, and white sauces with a micronutrient blend at 0.1% (w/w). The premix (100 mg) contained iron (6 mg), zinc (6.4 mg), riboflavin (0.8 mg), vitamin B6 (0.86 mg), folic acid (134 μg), vitamin C (26.6 mg), and vitamin D (6.6 μg). In addition, the sauces were enriched with potassium and magnesium. The fortified sauces had higher nutritional values than the conventional products. For example, the energy content of the fortified tomato, white sauce, and gravy formulations were increased between 2.5- and 4-fold compared to the control formulations. Sensory profiles were assessed using a trained panel. Additionally, a group of healthy older volunteers evaluated the hedonic liking of the fortified sauces compared with standard sauces.
The researchers found that the healthy older consumers preferred the fortified tomato sauce compared with unfortified. There were no significant differences in liking between the fortified and standard option for gravy. They did find limitations in the extent of fortification with protein, potassium, and magnesium, as excessive inclusion resulted in bitterness, undesired flavours, or textural issues. This was particularly marked in the white sauce to the extent that their sensory characteristics were not sufficiently optimized for hedonic testing.
The researchers conclude that:-
“the development of fortified sauces is a simple approach to improving energy intake for hospitalized older people, both through the nutrient composition of the sauce itself and due to the benefits of increasing sensorial taste and lubrication in the mouth.”
Reference
Tsikritzi, R., Wang, J., Collins, V. J., Allen, V. J., Mavrommatis, Y., Moynihan, P. J., Gosney, M. A., Kennedy, O. B. and Methven, L. (2015), The Effect of Nutrient Fortification of Sauces on Product Stability, Sensory Properties, and Subsequent Liking by Older Adults. J. Food Sci., 80: S1100–S1110. doi: 10.1111/1750-3841.12850
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I think the sauce fortification is a good idea but they do need to sort out the lids and caps on the bottles. What’s the point if you cannot get the damn things off the bottle and when you are really old you’ve lost a lot of strength in opening them.
I think the idea works for mince quite well but I hope they can sort out the flavour. Iron does a weird taste issue with tomato sauce and I’m not sure about the meaty note from thiamine although I guess they didn’t include it in this item because of the problem with flavour. Can you also guarantee that heating wont destroy all those vitamins ? I tried adding some crushed minerals to a bottle of Dolmio tomato pasta sauce and I’m not sure about the flavour but also whether the minerals would actually work. Anyway I think they are onto the right idea with this.