EVERYTHING DOESN'T JUST COST LESS, IT'S ALSO BETTER:

Food scientists strive to create nutritious additives (Mike Hughlett, 1/23/11, Star Tribune)

Terri VanderPol was tinkering in the lab again. Earlier this month, the Cargill senior beverage scientist was figuring out ways to improve the taste of a pomegranate-acai berry juice drink containing Barliv, a concoction Cargill developed that marks a sort of eureka moment in food technology.

It's an additive derived from barley, one of only a handful of grains rich in the kind of fiber that helps heart health. But barley isn't easily transformed into a concentrate that can go into food or beverages without mucking up taste and texture.

Minnetonka, Minn.-based Cargill's food scientists figured out a way to do it. And they are using the same kind of thinking to develop a range of "functional" or healthful additives that manufacturers could mix into everything from fruit juice to snack bars.