About a year after ISO set a new standard for food ingredients to be called ‘natural,’ chicory root fibre is the first dietary fibre to achieve this verification.
The root of the chicory plant is the natural source of the inulin and oligofructose ingredients that Sensus produces.
“We are extremely pleased that we can now really call our chicory inulin natural according to the very latest and strict ISO standard,” explains Sensus Scientific and Regular Affairs Leader, Dr Elaine Vaughan.
“There are many fibres available in the market and this qualification distinguishes chicory inulin from fibres that you cannot find in nature.”
‘Occurring in nature’ is exactly the focus of ISO when determining the ‘naturalness’ of an ingredient.
In fact, inulin has been part of our daily diet historically and there are more than 36,000 plants in the world that contain inulin fibre, such as banana, wheat and garlic.
The inulin is extracted with hot water from chicory roots, which contain a high level of inulin. The inulin fibre delivered to the customer is the same as you can find it within the chicory root.
To become verified as natural, an ingredient must occur in nature. For this reason, not many other dietary fibres will qualify for this verification, simply because they do not occur in nature.
Although some producers will claim that their fibres are from ‘natural origin,’ you will not find these fibres in nature. Chicory root fibre is today the only dietary fibre that is verified as natural according to ISO.
After the recent FDA approval of dietary fibre status of chicory inulin and oligofructose in the new food labelling regulations, this standard will help our customers to make the right choices, using the right dietary fibre when they want to use only authentic and natural ingredients in their products. It is another step forward in going back to nature!
