What does healthy frozen pizza look like?

The ProBallast project is working on fibre-rich ready meals

When it comes to healthy eating, fibre is just as important as protein. It is filling, good for the gut microbiome and keeps blood sugar levels stable. However, ready meals often contain very little fibre. In the ‘ProBallast’ project, researchers at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences are looking for ways to increase the fibre content in these foods. To this end, they are collaborating with the University of Göttingen and various commercial enterprises. They will be presenting their initial results on the development of a frozen pizza together with Ökofrost GmbH at this year's BIOFACH in Nuremberg from 10 to 13 February.

Under the term ‘fibre maxxing’, fibre-rich nutrition is currently a trending topic on social media. Many accounts offer tips on which foods are particularly suitable for this. In doing so, they address a long-standing nutritional problem: many people do not consume enough fibre, even though it has numerous positive effects on health. ‘Hardly any other element is rated as positively in nutritional research as a high fibre content. It keeps you feeling full for longer and reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, lipid metabolism disorders, colon cancer and cardiovascular disease,’ says Dipl.-Ing. Kirsten Buchecker, who heads the ‘ProBallast’ project at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences. It therefore makes sense to increase the fibre content in ready meals too, for example by using wholemeal cereals or field bean flour. By-products from production, such as the skins of legumes or fruit pomace, can also be used as a source of fibre. This would enable a more sustainable use of raw materials in food production, as less waste would be generated. The aim is to achieve a fibre content of at least three per cent. In the best case scenario, however, it can be increased to six per cent. Then the product could be labelled as ‘high in fibre’ according to German food law.

Over the past few months, the Bremerhaven project team has been working on recipes for frozen pizza. In doing so, they had to deal with the special characteristics of the various raw ingredients. These are particularly noticeable in tomato sauces. ‘Depending on the fibre we used, the consistency of the sauce changes. It becomes thicker or thinner. This not only creates a different mouthfeel, but also affects the filling process. We also noticed differences in colour and taste in both the dough and the sauces,’ explains Buchecker. These factors can influence consumers' purchasing behaviour. For this reason, product developments are accompanied by sensory expert evaluations and sensory consumer tests are carried out. Ökofrost GmbH is involved in the project as a practical partner. The company's goal is to use the scientific findings and results from Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences and the University of Göttingen to develop frozen pizzas and other organic frozen products that will then actually be launched on the market.
The ProBallast project will run until 30 December 2027 and is funded by the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food. During the project period, work will continue on other products, such as canned soups, crackers and vegetable balls.

Ökofrost has been a pioneer in organic frozen foods since 1996 and is based in Berlin. The frozen food specialist and wholesaler has two own frozen food brands: BioPolar and BioCool. These brands are used to supply modern organic frozen foods primarily to specialist retailers throughout Germany. 

(Translated by deepL)