Nutrition Without Compromise: Giving people delicious, personalized choices could be key to longer, healthier lives

People often say life is full of compromises. As consumers, all of us learn to balance what we want with what we need and can afford. That’s true too when it comes to eating. The foods we crave aren’t always what our bodies require. But what if we didn’t have to compromise when it came to good nutrition? What if—to quote another common saying—we could have our cake and eat it too?

As a global producer of seasonings and food, the Ajinomoto Group feels people shouldn’t have to compromise when it comes to eating and living well. This is company’s approach to nutrition and we call it Nutrition Without Compromise. We all want to make healthy choices. But even if certain foods are good for us, we won’t incorporate them into our diet unless they taste good and are available, affordable, and convenient to prepare.

That’s why the Ajinomoto Group has long been working to provide global consumers with more nutritious and diverse choices that are delicious, accessible, and also respect local ways of life in the places where they’re sold. This means understanding consumer needs and engaging with local customs to offer healthy solutions ranging from delicious salt, sugar, and fat reduction, to promoting fruit and vegetable intake, to helping people consume both enough protein and a wider variety of protein sources.

Using its proprietary Palatability Design Technology, the company is developing products to make everyday foods healthier and more satisfying. This includes umami seasonings that boost flavor with less salt, and ingredients like Pal Sweet^®, a low-calorie sweetener derived from protein-based amino-acids, used as a sugar substitute by consumers and commercial food producers alike. It is also applying enzyme preparations to reduce fat while maintaining richness in popular food brands like its Pure Select mayonnaise. Palatability Design Technology can benefit frozen food brands like its TAI PEI^® line of Asian-inspired frozen entrées in multiple ways, from significant sodium and calorie reduction, to improved taste, texture, and mouth feel, to packaging that preserves freshness better and is more visible on store shelves and easier to reheat.

The Ajinomoto Group develops products for local markets worldwide that improve access and convenience. These range from everyday flavor seasonings specific to countries like Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, to more unusual products, such as DeliDawa™ fermented bean powder, used to flavor stews in West Africa. Menu-specific seasonings like Cook Do^® and Sajiku^® tailored to local ingredients make cooking easier for people in countries throughout Asia, South America, and Africa. Accessibility is also about providing allergen-friendly choices like gluten-free Gyoza^®, and protein alternatives for older people, like ready-to-eat protein-rich soup. Distribution solutions, such as expanding e-commerce and making more foods that can be stored at room temperature, are also key to expanding access to everyone.

The Ajinomoto Group believes that when people everywhere have more choices, they’re more likely to make good ones and less likely to compromise, which can contribute to longer and healthier lives and ultimately benefit society as a whole. Through its approach of Nutrition Without Compromise, the Group is aiming to help extend the healthy life expectancy of one billion people by 2030.