Sophisticated flavor solutions to challenging formulas
April 1, 2025
Sports nutrition products are at the forefront of supporting active lifestyles, yet one of their greatest challenges remains achieving a taste profile that satisfies consumers. Modern formulations often include functional ingredients such as plant proteins, vitamins, amino acids, or caffeine—components that, while beneficial, can introduce bitter, metallic, or other off-putting tastes. Flavors with Modifying Properties (FMPs) offer a sophisticated solution to these challenges, enabling manufacturers to deliver products that taste as good as they perform.
FMPs are a group of specialized ingredients designed to enhance or modify sensory experiences. From masking bitterness to amplifying sweetness, these versatile tools allow formulators to tailor the taste of products without compromising functionality. This guide will dive into the definition of FMPs, the complexities of formulating with them, and the effect they have on label claims.
FMP stands for Flavors with Modifying Properties, and they are not your traditional flavorings. Rather, they function as enhancers, blockers, or modulators that work alongside flavor systems to overcome taste challenges inherent to functional ingredients. Have you ever tasted pure caffeine? It is the definition of bitter, and you’re going to need a blocker. Taste is the number one variable that keeps customers coming back for more. More than cost, more than label claims, how a product tastes is paramount for a successful product launch.
The beauty of FMPs lies in their ability to address specific sensory issues. Bitter blockers, for instance, can neutralize the sharp taste of caffeine, while sweetness enhancers can amplify a product's perceived sweetness without adding sugar. The effectiveness of these tools depends on their careful application, tailored to the product format—be it ready-to-drink (RTD), powdered beverages, or protein bars. Moreover, compliance with regulatory guidelines and accurate labeling ensures both safety and trust among consumers.
Using the chart below, you will see that our bodies are built to detect the five different tastes for different reasons.
.png)
Breaking down the five taste categories of salty, sour, bitter, sweet, and umami, we will go one step further and break those into two main complex categories: Ionic and Chemical.
Calcium Signaling in Taste Cells 2015
Salty and Sour fall under the Ionic category because these taste receptors are designed to detect different ions and ionic stimuli in our food. Things like sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride, acids, etc. FMPs used for the Ionic tastes include Sodium Reducers and Sour Blockers.
Sodium Reducers are a way to lower the sodium amount on a product’s nutrition facts panel without lowering the taste of salt. This is achieved by using minerals other than sodium bicarbonate like magnesium, zinc, or calcium.
Sour Blockers are still being studied and have yet to be perfected. The transfer of hydrogen ions, how they relate to low Ph levels and perceived sourness are elements under inspection by food scientists and have yet to be resolved. For now, the best way to modify sourness is by masking or blocking the taste. This can be achieved by adding creamy or fatty notes to a product.
The remaining three tastes, bitter, umami, and sweet, belong to the Chemically Complex category.
Taste is more complicated than you’d expect. The way we used to think about taste with our receptors being broken down into 5 distinct zones on the tongue (see fig. a), is oversimplified. We now understand taste to be much more complex and nuanced. Using Bitter as an example, humans have 25 bitter receptors throughout the body and “bitter taste transduction cascade(s)” down different pathways (see fig. b). In other words, it’s not a simple, “is this bitter, yes, or no?” question, but something that can vary depending on diet and other ingredients or chemicals working in conjunction with the food as a whole.
The Textbooks Were Wrong About How Your Tongue Works 2024
FMPs belonging to this category include Bitter Blockers, Umami Enhancers, and Sweetness Enhancers.
Bitter Blockers are exactly what they sound like, they block bitterness. Depending on the ingredients you are attempting to block, will determine which bitter blocker will work best. Examples of different components that cause bitterness include caffeine, minerals, adaptogens, vitamins, etc.
Sweetness Enhancers will boost the sweet taste without adding to the sugar or sweetener content already present in a product. This is a great option for products attempting to keep their sweetener levels low, while still achieving a sweet taste.
Umami Enhancers typically include yeast extracts or amino acids and salts.
It’s clear from how complex formulating with FMPs are that this isn’t something you can jump right into and succeed in on the first try. Formulating with FMPs takes years of scientific background and is best left to the professionals. Thankfully, we know a few people who can help.
So, you have your formula, you know what you want it to taste like, you might even have your product pretty darn close to how you want it to be, but you can’t quite get that bitter aftertaste to go away, or the sodium content is too high. We can help, but we need some information from you first.
Can you guess what the number one most important thing we need to know about your product is before we start formulating with FMPs?
Label claims.
We need to know what you want to say about your product. What are you putting on the label? What are your call outs?
Depending on your label claims will determine which FMPs we utilize in the formula. Here are two examples of how different label claims will determine which FMPs are utilized.
You want a pure, straightforward product with no added sweeteners. Well, that automatically disqualifies most bitter blockers. Many bitter blockers contain sweeteners like stevia or monk fruit extract as a method of blocking bitterness. By claiming no sweeteners, a different FMP that does not contain sweeteners will be employed.
Bitter blockers and umami enhancers can contain salts or sodium that are detectable in the product and therefore must be claimed on the label. To avoid this, an FMP like a sodium reducer will be utilized.
Our flavor chemists and R&D scientists have years of formulation experience and can help create the perfect product for you once we understand the label claims you hope to achieve.
It’s complicated, we know. Understanding the different types of FMPs, how they work, and how they relate to label claims on a product are just the beginning. To utilize FMPs in a formula you need to have a strong understanding of what ingredients are in a product and how they chemically react to one another. Taste is something we experience on a molecular level which makes formulating with FMPs a scientific endeavor best left to the professionals, and we can help you formulate a great tasting product that will stay on the shelves.
.png)
.png)
.png){kind=logo}
