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Naturally Georgous - a newly launched chocolate range from Naturally Chocolate - is the latest in a long line of products to promote satiety. The chocolate contains Lipid Nutrition's Pinnothin ingredient, which promises to help people feel fuller for longer. Food Manufacture's latest consumer survey looks into what consumers think of such products.

In an agreement with Polish fruit ingredient supplier Frubella, J O Sims is to distribute the company's naturally infused fruits in the UK. The natural fruit sugars enable manufacturers to sweeten products, while making 'no added sugar' claims and the addition of fruit to a product can give it a healthier perception.

Already successful in Asia, sugar-free Crush Candies may soon become a trend in Europe, claims Beneo-Palatinit. These hard boiled candies disintegrate in the mouth and release their flavour quickly and intensely through fine cracks.

In a response to the increased cost of using butter in food production and the need to address the obesity crisis, manufacturers are looking for alternatives to replace butter and bakery fats.

Creaminess, stability and shelf-life are key elements to making high quality ice cream, but these are particularly challenging to achieve in low fat variants. Kerry Bio-Science claims its Sherex Enlite range of ingredients can help low fat ice cream to make the grade.

Walk past the fresh pasta sauce fixture in any major retailer and you'll be struck by the lack of branded products.

Readers of a certain age may recall a 1970s advertising campaign for the Mars Milky Way chocolate bar, which extolled it as "the sweet you can eat between meals without ruining your appetite". It's hard to imagine that this praise of pointless indulgence would get the green light nowadays. Food in the 21st century has to justify its calories. If it is filling, it must also be nutritious. If it is a treat, it must be small, part of a balanced diet and as natural as possible.

Time was when consumers would be satisfied with a bog standard daily loaf and not give it a second thought. Now they want healthy, tasty, specialist fare. Those providing that are driving growth.

The food industry is full of closely guarded secrets. What makes Guinness so smooth? How does Coca-Cola sustain its fizz? Why are Pringles so god damn addictive? There's no doubt that clever packaging and marketing of products play their part, but without a few magic ingredients, these products would simply be 'me-toos'. On that basis, you'd think that processors would be keen to collaborate with ingredients firms on how to get the most out of their products, but in many cases this couldn't be further from the truth.