Omega 3 claims have featured strongly in the dairy sector in recent years, but the use of the healthy oil in new dairy launches is now falling, according to Innova Market Insights.
Innova said the share of total dairy launches (excluding dairy alternative drinks) using omega 3 claims fell from 2.4 per cent in the 52 weeks to the end of October 2008 to 1.5 per cent in the same period in 2013.
Innova said omega 3 health claims in particular were on the wane.
“While awareness of the potential health benefits of omega 3 fatty acids has risen over the years, recent tightening up of claims legislation has tended to decrease the use of this type of claim in relation to specific benefits,” said Lu Ann Williams, director of innovation at Innova Market Insights.
“Terms such as ‘high in omega 3s,’ ‘contains omega 3s,’ ‘rich in omega 3s,’ have continued to be used, but links to heart health, brain and cognitive health, eye health, etc have been much less in evidence, with companies relying more on existing consumer knowledge about potential benefits.”
The key dairy sectors still making omega 3 claims are yellow fats and milks, and these accounted for just over 80 per cent of global launches using either omega 3 or DHA claims (or both) in the 12 months to the end of October 2013, according to Innova.
Omega 3 claims featured in just over 10 per cent of yellow fats introductions, compared with 3 per cent of the far more numerous milk and milk drink introductions over the same period.
According to Innova, the positioning of yellow fats with omega 3 claims has also changed in recent years, with the original claims regarding cholesterol maintenance and heart and circulatory health now starting to give way to more generalised “health for all the family” or “active healthy living” positionings.
“Although product activity in omega 3 fortified dairy products has been rather less in evidence in recent years, clearly there is still interest in the sector and potential for further development, particularly considering the wide range of different health benefits associated with it,” Williams said.
The use of fish oil in new dairy launches is on the wane.
