Hence, pulses have unfortunately been seen by some, quite wrongly, as poor quality food. Most pulses are high in the oligosaccharides raffinose, stachyose and verbascose which cause flatulence. This problem, combined with the long cooking times required to prepare them and the fact that they are usually only available in cans or as sauces, has given pulses a poor marketing image as human food. Supermarket snack foods rarely have a pulse component. Although this segment of the market is declining due to the popularity of western-style chips, it shows there is huge potential for such products.
Pulses also have potential in extruded snack foods.
They offer a good base for the extruded product as they produce a good flavour which is not overpowering, when heated. They lend themselves to flavour addition and retain a good crunch if treated and stored properly. Breakfast cereals in Australia comprise a base group of products such as Weetbix and Special K which don't change and other products which come and go. Short life cereals are mainly the 'muesli' style of mixed grains with added fruit or nuts. Breakfast bars are the home meal replacement option for breakfast.