Creating Healthier Bars: Essential Guidelines for Functional Formulation
The nutrition bar market is expanding rapidly, with consumer expectations are higher than ever. A protein bar can’t just be high in protein—it must also deliver on taste, texture, and stability. Consumers want bars that provide real functional benefits while maintaining an indulgent eating experience.
A major challenge for formulators is balancing functionality with sensory appeal. Protein, fiber, and other functional ingredients often disrupt texture, sweetness, and mouthfeel. Removing sugar and fat, which contribute significantly to texture and flavor, introduces additional formulation challenges.
This guide outlines best practices for developing high-protein, fiber-rich, and functionally enhanced bars, covering ingredient interactions, processing challenges, and strategies for optimizing taste, texture, and stability over shelf life.
The Core Challenge: Replicating Indulgence in a Functional Format
Product developers often face the challenge of meeting specific and demanding requests from consumers. For instance, they may be asked to create a high-protein bar that tastes like a candy bar, contains over 10 grams of protein, and has no added sugar. Additionally, there is a need for shelf-stable bars that remain soft for six months without the use of artificial preservatives.
Adding protein and fiber affects water activity, binding, and structure, requiring careful formulation adjustments. Achieving the right balance of ingredients is key to developing a product that is functional but still enjoyable to eat.
Key Functional Ingredients in Bar Formulation
Protein: The Backbone of High-Protein Bars
Why Add Protein?
Adding protein to your diet offers several significant benefits. It supports muscle recovery and endurance, making it essential for anyone engaged in regular physical activity. Protein also enhances satiety, helping you feel fuller for longer and aiding in weight management. Additionally, incorporating protein aligns with current trends in fitness, sports nutrition, and weight management, making it a popular choice with consumers looking to improve their overall health and wellness.
Challenges and Solutions
Texture and Hardening Over Time
Some proteins tend to absorb moisture or interact with other ingredients, leading to bars hardening over their shelf life. To address this issue, utilizing multi-protein blends, controlling hydration, and employing optimized processing techniques can help maintain the desired softness and texture of the bars throughout their shelf life.
Flavor Profile and Off-Notes
Dairy proteins can sometimes develop bitter or sulfur-like aftertastes, while plant proteins may contribute beany, earthy, or grassy notes. To mitigate these undesirable flavors, techniques such as flavor masking, sweetener modulation, and the use of fat systems are employed, ensuring a more pleasant taste profile in the final product.
Cost Considerations
Protein is one of the most expensive ingredients in bars, which can significantly impact production costs. However, by using a strategic mix of suppliers, it is possible to optimize costs without compromising quality. As an independent formulation partner, we are not tied to a single protein supplier, allowing us to source the best combination of ingredients for each specific application, ensuring both cost-effectiveness and high-quality standards.
Fiber: Critical for Satiety and Sugar Replacement
Why Add Fiber?
Supporting digestive health and gut microbiome balance, increasing satiety, and slowing carbohydrate absorption are key benefits of fiber. Fiber sources can act as sugar replacers, providing bulk and texture to products while enhancing their nutritional profile.
Challenges and Solutions
Moisture Management
Effective moisture management is crucial in product formulation, as some fibers can absorb too much water, resulting in dry and crumbly bars. To prevent excessive moisture binding, it is important to balance soluble and insoluble fibers, ensuring the final product maintains the desired texture and consistency.
Gastrointestinal Tolerance
High doses of certain fibers can lead to digestive discomfort. However, by selecting the right blend of fibers, it is possible to formulate products effectively without causing negative side effects, ensuring both nutritional benefits and consumer comfort.
Sugar Replacement Strategies
Consumer demand is compelling product developers to offer lower sugar or sugar-free options. Sugar plays a crucial role in not only providing sweetness but also in adding bulk, retaining moisture, and ensuring proper binding in products. Simply eliminating sugar can result in significant textural deficiencies, affecting the overall quality and consistency.
Solutions for Sugar-Free and Low-Sugar Bars
Using alternative sweeteners such as allulose, monk fruit, or stevia in combination with polyols can maintain sweetness while reducing sugar content. However, sugar alcohols can affect mouthfeel and digestive tolerance, necessitating careful dosage adjustments. Additionally, fiber-based bulking agents can replicate sugar’s binding properties while also providing nutritional benefits, making them a valuable component in formulating healthier products.
Best Practices for Successful Bar Development
In summary, developing a high-quality bar that satisfies consumer demands is a complex process. It involves balancing various factors such as taste, texture, nutritional content, and shelf stability, all while adhering to cost constraints and regulatory requirements.
Maintain Softness and Chewiness Over Shelf Life
- Protein blending and hydration control prevent hardening.
- Strategic fiber selection helps retain moisture balance.
Balance Functionality and Indulgence
- Optimizing flavor masking and sweetness modulation improves taste.
- Emulsifiers and fat systems enhance mouthfeel and texture.
Cost-Efficient Ingredient Selection
- Testing multiple protein and fiber suppliers allows cost optimization.
- Custom ingredient blends provide functionality without unnecessary expense.
Scale-Up Support for Manufacturing
- Ensuring formulations are optimized for mass production prevents processing challenges.
- Evaluating stability in different packaging formats helps maintain product quality.
Why partner with The NFL?
Better-for-you bars require precise formulation expertise to balance nutrition, taste, texture, and cost.
- We specialize in optimizing protein, fiber, and functional ingredient blends to maintain sensory appeal.
- Our supplier-agnostic approach allows us to source the best ingredients for each specific formulation.
- We help brands troubleshoot processing challenges, preventing common issues such as hardening, crumbling, or oil separation.
- Our expertise ensures that bars remain soft, stable, and indulgent over shelf life.
Being part of the Eurofins network grants our team access to a wide range of experts across all stages of the product lifecycle, including quality testing, food safety evaluation, and investigation support.
If you’re developing a new bar or reformulating an existing product, contact us to discuss your formulation challenges and learn how we can help.
Meet the Author:
Brent Fairbrother, Project Leader, The National Food Lab, Ithaca, NY
Brent Fairbrother has been an integral member of The National Food Lab (The NFL) for over 18 years. Throughout his tenure at The NFL, he has partnered with companies of all sizes, guiding them from early stage innovations to successful commercialization. His passion lies in helping businesses identify and develop the perfect products for their needs and customers.
