For the past three years, Norkem has had an arrangement with Galam to distribute GOFOS in the UK and Europe. In that time, GOFOS has gone from a novel nutritional additive to a red hot trend in sugar replacement, fibre enrichment and prebiotics - a fact underlined by the fact that Galam is now looking to double production with the opening of its new plant by the

end of 2024.

 

The success of GOFOS is not hard to understand when you look at its credentials. GOFOS is essentially a sweet soluble fibre. Or to give it a more technical title, a short-chain fructo-oligosaccharide, or sc-FOS. These are a class of fructans derived from plants including sugar beet. Sc-FOS molecules are very interesting from a dietary perspective. They are complex carbohydrates made up of chains of fructose molecules, which means they taste sweet. But they are complex enough to resist digestion in the human gut, and are therefore classed as fibre. Being indigestible means they are low calory when eaten. However they are fermented by our gut biomes, which means they class as prebiotics.

That’s a lot of boxes ticked for one little molecule - plant-derived, low calorie, low glycemic index, prebiotic, and sweet! Cutting sugar, increasing fibre That explains the buzz that has grown around sc-FOS products in general over the past few years, and GOFOS in particular. From a nutritional standpoint, there is a growing body of evidence that not only do too many people have too much sugar in their diet, they also get insufficient fibre. GOFOS addresses both challenges in one go.

 

It has long been recognised that dietary fibre plays an important role in protecting people against heart disease, strokes, type 2 diabetes, bowel cancer and more. But as research has peeled back the complexities of the human gut and the role a healthy gut biome plays in virtually every aspect of human health, understanding of the importance of fibre has grown progressively. And yet 90% of UK adults still do not get enough fibre in their diet. To address this, there has been a major public health drive to get more fibre into popular everyday food products as a nutritional additive. But this creates challenges around flavour.

This is where GOFOS is a real winner. As a fructan with a taste profile roughly half as sweet as plain sugar, it’s a ready-made ingredient for sweet food products including baked goods, chocolate, desserts, cereals, sports and health nutrition bars and more. And there you get the double benefit. Not only do you get added prebiotic fibre. As a sugar replacement, you also cut calories, without any compromise on taste.

We’re excited about the prospect of GOFOS production ramping up and being able to bring this unique nutritional additive to even more customers. Please get in touch with our food and drink sales team to find out more.