Product developers are seeking sweetener solutions in tune with shifting consumer purchasing preferences.
More insights into sugar reduction
Besides stevia, several other sweeteners may provide benefits when reducing sugar in soft drinks.
Advantame: The ingredient may be used as the sole alternative sweetener in full-sugar drinks to replace up to 30% of the sugar. Combining Advantame with acesulfame potassium (Ace-K) may lead to higher sugar substitution levels.
“Advantame is an excellent option to reduce sugar in soft drinks owing to its clean, sugar-like taste that allows you to reduce sugar without sacrificing taste and flavor,” said Ihab E. Bishay, Ph.D., senior director, sweeteners, Ajinomoto North America, Itasca, Ill.
Advantame is made from aspartame and vanillin, but it is a new molecule separate and distinct from its starting raw materials, he said.
“On the ingredient list Advantame is simply listed as Advantame,” he said.
Dr. Bishay also defended aspartame, which has concerned some consumers over the years, even leading PepsiCo, Inc. to remove it from Diet Pepsi, only to bring aspartame back into the beverage less than a year later.
“Since its introduction over 25 years ago, (aspartame) has revolutionized the industry due to its clean sweet taste that is closer to the taste of sugar than any other high-potency sweetener,” Dr. Bishay said. “Furthermore, aspartame is made up of components already naturally occurring in common foods and beverages such as dairy products, grains, meats and juices and is the only high-potency sweetener naturally metabolized by the body. Aspartame is used in more than 125 countries in over 6,000 products.”
Allulose: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2012 said it had no questions about the Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status of allulose as a sweetener.
Matsutani Chemical Industry Co. offers allulose, a monosaccharide from rare sugar, under the Astraea trademark. Rare sugars exist in nature in small quantities and may be found in some plants, fruits and prepared foods such as ketchup, according to Matsutani Chemical Industry Co. Astraea is 70% as sweet as sucrose and has 0.2 calories per gram, compared to sucrose at 4 calories per gram.
Tate & Lyle, P.L.C., London, offers allulose sweeteners that have 90% fewer calories than sucrose under the Dolcia Prima brand. The company developed a proprietary process to produce allulose on a commercial scale. Allulose was identified in wheat more than 70 years ago, according to Tate & Lyle. It is present in small quantities in certain fruit like figs, raisins and jackfruit and in foods like caramel sauce, maple syrup and brown sugar.
Fibersol: The Fibersol ingredient range of soluble vegetable fibers (corn) may be used to reduce sugar. Fibersol contains 90% dietary fiber.
“In zero-calorie sweetened beverages, a low level of Fibersol avoids the ‘watered down’ mouthfeel and can help with linger or aftertaste sometimes associated with zero-calorie sweeteners,” said Doris Dougherty, Fibersol technical service representative at Archer Daniels Midland Co., Chicago.
Fibersol is offered in non-bioengineered/non-G.M.O. form, too. ADM/Matsutani L.L.C., a joint venture between Archer Daniels Midland Co., Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., and Matsutani America, Inc. offers Fibersol.
Sucralose: The sweetener was discovered in 1976. Tate & Lyle began producing the high-intensity sweetener in McIntosh, Ala., in December 2000. The no-calorie sweetener is about 600 times sweeter than sugar. Tate & Lyle said it has produced enough Splenda sucralose since the sweetener’s invention to replace over 19 million tonnes of sugar in the human diet.
