(such as temperature changes or product formulation).¹³ Such requirements are an important step in helping to ensure the safety of such foods.

Launch and produce The final launch and production step may seem as though it is the final step in product development; however, most companies continue to test products after an initial launch and may make additional changes. To reduce the risk of large product failures in the marketplace, some firms choose to initially launch the product in a test market. The degree of success in the test market may lead to a larger rollout or may identify problems in the product that need further research and development (Fuller, 2005).

Further, companies are constantly working to reformulate products for a variety of purposes, including the following (Fuller, 2005):¹⁴

• to improve sensory or nutritional characteristics (including the removal of ingredients seen by consumers as undesirable due to media coverage and new health information);

• to overcome problems with ingredient availability;

• to reduce ingredient or production costs;

• to incorporate new technologies;

• to create a new market niche for the product;

• to maintain the legal marketability of products when the legal status of an ingredient is changed; and

• to meet nutritional health claim or other criteria to allow for front-of-package labeling (Webster, 2009).

Today, the primary driver of continued industry profitability is competition with others in the market on price, and reducing processing and ingredient costs is the primary means of staying competitive (Watzke and German, 2009). To reformulate existing products, issues similar to those that factor into new product development must be considered. In addition, companies test products to ensure that the reformulated product is considered by consumers to be of equal or better quality than the original version so as not to lose market share, according to a participant in the public information-gathering workshop held by the committee (March 30, 2009).