Recycled natural snacks from waste fruit and veg set to make healthy profit

A groundbreaking project, which turns fruit and vegetable waste into healthy snacks, could be just 12 months away from commercialisation.

The project, which is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and run by Manchester Metropolitan University, was set up three years ago to create cereal-based savoury snacks using extrusion technology. The team has now been approached by a manufacturer interested in launching products, said project leader professor Paul Ainsworth.

Speaking at a Leatherhead International conference on children's foods, Ainsworth said tests were now being run on larger commercial extrusion machines to see if the process was scalable.

He added: "The best parts of fruits and vegetables are often the bits that are thrown away in the production process, such as the pulp and skins of citrus fruits, broccoli stems or onion trimmings. These parts contain important phytochemicals and so much colour and flavour. You can lose 50% of these products as waste and this just gets put into landfill, which is expensive and highly wasteful.

"We are utilising this material and extruding it to make different shapes."

Initial tastings with 152 consumers had been extremely encouraging, said Ainsworth. "We are convinced these products are marketable. They taste fantastic, they are low fat, low calorie, with no salt and anti-oxidants are surviving the extrusion process. There is also the potential for other applications, such as pet food."

Given that the raw materials were free, it also represented a significant commercial opportunity. "The UK savoury snack-food market is worth £2.4bn and we have no direct competition."