Medical nutrition companies
Adding a format to an existing range, or taking a product from powder into a ready-to-consume pack.
Therapeutic application
Dysphagia and texture-modified nutrition
A texture-modified product has two specifications at once: a nutritional one and a rheological one. The second is the harder of the two to hold, because consistency set in a kitchen does not survive processing, storage, or contact with saliva. We build the product to land on its level after all three, and verify it there.
The nutritional brief
What the condition demands
Dysphagia changes how food has to behave in the mouth and throat, and it changes how much of it a person can manage. Both constraints land on the formulation.
- A defined consistency levelThe IDDSI framework runs from level 0 to level 7 across drinks and foods, with levels 3 and 4 shared between them. A product is specified to a level, and a clinician relies on it arriving at that level.
- Consistency that is measured, not describedIDDSI defines objective tests — the flow test for drinks, the fork drip, spoon tilt and fork pressure tests for foods. “Thick” is not a specification; a flow test result is.
- Nutrient density in a smaller volumeIntake falls when swallowing is difficult, so the same nutrition has to fit into less food. That pushes energy and protein density up, which pushes viscosity up again.
- Safety of the particulateLevels that permit particulates set a size limit, and the finished product has to respect it after processing rather than at the mixing stage.
- Appearance that survives mouldingMoulded purees are used to restore the look of a recognisable meal. The system has to set, unmould and hold its shape through reheating.
- Amylase resistanceStarch-thickened products thin in the mouth as salivary amylase acts on them. For a person who relies on a level being maintained, that is a safety problem, not a texture preference.
What we develop
Formats we build for this need
Each one is developed as its own product with its own specification — formulation, process and the analysis that proves the finished pack meets the profile it declares.
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Smooth Pureed Meals
Fully smooth savoury and sweet purees, built to a defined level and a defined nutritional profile.
Develop a pureed meal -
Moulded and Shaped Purees
Purees set into the shape of the dish they came from, so a meal still looks like a meal.
Develop a moulded meal -
Minced and Soft Meals
Minced-and-moist and soft bite-sized meals where the particulate size is part of the specification.
Develop a soft meal -
Pre-Thickened Drinks
Drinks supplied at a defined level rather than thickened at the bedside, removing preparation error.
Develop a thickened drink -
High-Density Nutrition in Modified Texture
Energy- and protein-dense formats for people eating less because eating is difficult.
Develop a dense format -
Thickening Systems and Bases
Gum-based thickening systems and bases supplied to kitchens and manufacturers.
Develop a thickening system
What we change
The levers we pull
Formulating for this category is about choosing a system that arrives at the specification after processing and storage, rather than one that meets it in the kitchen.
- Gum systems over native starchXanthan and other heat- and shear-stable gums hold a level where native starch gelatinises, breaks down under sustained heat and then retrogrades in storage.
- Amylase resistanceGum-thickened systems are not broken down by salivary amylase. Starch-thickened ones are, which is why they thin during oral processing.
- Target set after the processThe formulation is built to arrive at its level after the thermal cycle, not to start there. Aggregation and starch breakdown both move viscosity, in opposite directions.
- Particulate controlCut size, pre-treatment and the point at which particulates are added all decide where the product lands against a level that caps particle size.
- Moulding and set behaviourA setting system that releases cleanly from the mould, holds its shape through reheating, and does not weep on the plate.
- Density without collapseRaising energy and protein in a reduced-volume diet raises viscosity too. The two specifications are solved together or not at all.
Straight answers
What the evidence supports, and what it does not
We would rather you launched a product that holds up under scrutiny than one carrying a claim that does not. These are the places where the evidence is weaker than the category implies.
- IDDSI is a framework, not a recipe
- It defines levels and the tests that establish them. It does not tell you what formulation reaches a level in your matrix, in your pack, after your process. That is development work.
- A level claimed is a level that must be testable
- If a pack states a level, the flow or fork test has to return that level on finished product — at release and at the end of shelf life.
- Thickener type changes behaviour, not just thickness
- Xanthan builds viscosity roughly in proportion to concentration; starch builds it far more steeply. Two products at the same measured level can behave differently in the mouth.
- Texture modification manages risk, it does not remove it
- Modified texture is one part of dysphagia management alongside clinical assessment and positioning. A product supports a care plan; it does not replace one.
Who we develop for
Manufacturers, institutions and programme buyers
Products in this category are developed here for the organisations that have to put them in front of a clinician, a procurement team or a regulator.
Nutraceutical and functional food brands
Moving from general wellness into a defined clinical need, where the profile becomes the specification.
Hospitals, care homes and caterers
Producing to a standardised portion and profile, centrally, and shipping ambient.
Public health and institutional programmes
Supplementary and therapeutic feeding where composition, shelf life and cost per serve are fixed by tender.
Private label and OEM buyers
Sourcing under your own brand, needing the formulation and process proven before a co-packer is committed.
NPD, R&D and regulatory teams
Inside an established manufacturer, needing formulation, process and regulatory work in one place.
The technical side
The terms your file will use
If you are briefing an R&D, regulatory or quality team, or answering a tender or an importer’s questionnaire, these are the concepts the work is built on.
Terms in this category
- IDDSI framework
- An eight-level continuum, 0 to 7, covering drinks and foods, with levels 3 and 4 shared between the two.
- Flow test
- The syringe test used to place a drink on a level, read as the volume remaining after ten seconds.
- Fork drip, spoon tilt and fork pressure tests
- The objective food-side tests, including the thumbnail-blanch pressure used for the easy-to-chew subcategory.
- Amylase resistance
- Whether a thickening system survives contact with salivary amylase during oral processing, or thins in the mouth.
- Retrogradation
- The recrystallisation of gelatinised starch in storage, which stiffens and then weeps a starch-thickened product.
- Age gelation
- Non-enzymatic gelling that appears weeks after a heat-treated high-protein liquid was made, moving it off its level.
- Syneresis
- Liquid separating out of a set system on standing, which both looks wrong and changes the effective consistency.
- Yield stress
- The force needed before a product starts to flow, which is closer to what a clinician observes than viscosity alone.
Where this sits in what we do
- Formulation and developmentConcept, formulation design and lab-scale trials against your target profile
- Pilot manufacturingTrial batches in the pack the product will ship in, including our pilot retort for shelf-stable formats
- Process validationThermal process validation and the scheduled process that a manufacturer runs from
- Stability and shelf lifeAccelerated and real-time studies establishing what the declared life actually is
- Clinical validationTrial design and management where an intended use or a claim has to be substantiated
- Regulatory and commercialisationClassification, labelling and the documentation each destination market asks for
Related work: clinical nutrition, therapeutic nutrition, retort clinical and medical nutrition and clinical trial management.
Questions
Dysphagia, specifically
Can a texture-modified product hold its level through a retort?
Yes, if the system is chosen for it. Native starch gelatinises, breaks down under a sustained hold and then retrogrades on the shelf, so a level set before the cycle will not be the level after it. Heat- and shear-stable gums hold far better. The target is set so the product lands on its level after processing, then verified there and again across shelf life.
Why does a starch-thickened drink thin in the mouth?
Salivary amylase breaks starch down during oral processing, so viscosity falls between the cup and the swallow. For someone who depends on a level being maintained, that is a safety issue rather than a texture preference, and it is the main reason gum systems dominate pre-thickened products.
Can you state an IDDSI level on our pack?
The product has to earn it. We establish the level on finished product using the IDDSI tests, confirm it holds across the declared shelf life, and document the method so the claim is defensible. What we will not do is calculate a level from the formulation and print it.
Our purees look grey and collapse. What is happening?
Usually three things at once — pigment degradation under heat, starch breakdown taking the structure out, and syneresis on standing. Each has a different fix, and a pilot run tells you which is dominant in your product rather than in general.
Do you supply thickening systems, or finished products?
Both. Some clients want a finished shelf-stable meal or drink; others want the thickening base to use in their own kitchen or line. The development work is much the same — the difference is where the validated specification is handed over.
How do you balance nutrition against texture?
They are solved together. Raising energy and protein density raises viscosity, and a person eating less because swallowing is hard needs the density. The formulation work is finding the system that carries the nutrition without pushing the product off its level.
See the wider applications index
Next step
Tell us what the product has to do
Send the target profile, the format you have in mind and the market you are selling into. We will tell you what is achievable, what the evidence will and will not support on the label, and what the development work would need to cover.
- 1Send the briefA target profile and a format is enough to start.
- 2We come back within two working daysWith what is achievable and where the risk sits.
- 3You get a scoped quotePriced on the work the product actually needs.
