Recently, more consumers are interested in purchasing probiotic food and beverage products that may improve their immune health. The market for functional foods and beverages that include Bifidobacterium is expanding because of their potential uses in both food and therapeutic applications. However, maintaining Bifidobacterium's viability during food processing and storage remains a challenge. Microencapsulation technique has been explored to improve the viability of Bifidobacterium. Despite the technical, microbiological, and economic challenges, the market potential for immune-supporting functional foods and beverages is significant. Additionally, there is a shift toward postbiotics as a solution for product innovation, a promising postbiotic product that can be incorporated into various food and beverage formats is also introduced in this review. As consumers become more health-conscious, future developments in the functional food and beverage market discussed in this review could serve as a reference for researchers and industrialist.
Thai tea is one of the beverage products that are often ordered by Generation Z through online applications. With the rise of Thai tea drinks in the market, it is suspected that some individuals cheat by adding cyclamate to Thai tea drinks when concocting to get a good taste and sweetness at a low price. This study aimed to examine the correlation between the level of knowledge and the attitudes of traders regarding the use of cyclamate food additives in Thai tea processed drinks, which are sold through online application-based food delivery services in the Surabaya and Sidoarjo regions. This research was an observational analysis and had a cross-sectional design. The study sample of 46 Thai tea beverage products was taken by simple random sampling. Research shows that there is no link between knowledge (p=0.654), attitudes (p=0.950), and behavior (p=0.849) with the use of cyclamate in Thai tea beverage products. The conclusion of this study is the absence of any connections between knowledge, attitude, behavior, and the use of cyclamates. The results classify Thai tea products, both qualitatively and quantitatively, as safe. Based on questionnaires, respondents had good knowledge, but they also had negative attitudes and behaviors.