Sweetness and light

Sweeteners play an important role in many applications across the food industry but what have been described as ‘groundbreaking developments’ are about to hit the market

All natural have become the buzzwords for new product development and none more so than for the sweetener category. Ingredients companies are currently falling over themselves in the rush to bring out alternatives to what is already on the market.

Stevia has been well documented over the years but has now hit the headlines because of the collaboration between soft drink giant Coca-Cola and agricultural giant Cargill to develop a zero calorie sweetener derived from this South American plant.

In May 2007 they teamed up to market the product under the name Rebiana. This was produced by PureCircle, suppliers of the ingredient Rebaudioside-A (Reb-A), and supplied to Cargill under an exclusive agreement. In January PureCircle extended its contract with Cargill on a non exclusive basis.

Said to be 250-300 times sweeter than sucrose, stevia is a high intensity sweetener. It is isolated and purified from the leaves of the Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni plant where it is present at levels up to 13%. It has been used as a sweetener in Asia, China, Japan and South America for many years but has yet to gain approval in Europe and the US.

Any novel food is carefully monitored in the EU and will only be given the green light when it has been rigorously tested on its safety. Stevia has been considered many times before in the UK – the last time in 1999 when the EC Scientific Committee on Food concluded that "the information submitted on the plant products was insufficient with regard to specification and standardisation of the commercial product and contained no safety studies".

But a natural sweetener that has the backing of two of the industry's leading global suppliers may be on its way to getting sanctioned. Coca-Cola is claimed to have already filed 24 patent applications for the ingredient in the US and plans to petition the Food & Drink Administration for approval.

PureCircle says that as well as being all natural, Reb-A provides consumers with healthy benefits such as no

calories and a low glycaemic index, which makes it suitable for diabetics.

"It is the only rival to sugar which gives a very similar taste profile and is entirely natural, using no artificial chemicals, either in the cultivation of the plant or in the extraction of the key sweetening ingredient," it says.

According to Mintel's Global New Products Database, 180 food and drink products containing stevia were launched in 2007. These included dressings, potato snacks, tea and other drinks.

Another all natural based sweetener making its debut comes from Natur Research Foods in the US, which it claims is able to replace cane sugar on a one to one basis without compromising the sweetness or structure of a product.

Natur Baker's Blend natural sweetener is said to have 40% fewer calories than cane sugar and a low glycemic index, which enables manufacturers to produce baked goods for diabetics. It is made up of a proprietary and patent pending blend that includes fruit and vegetable sugar.

"It represents one of the first natural sweeteners specifically for baking to be available as an alternative to cane sugar, sucralose and aspartame based baking products," says CEO Loren Miles. "I believe demand for a natural baking sweetener will be a fast growing segment of the market."

Natur Research Foods specialises in all natural, low intensity sweeteners for consumer and commercial applications. Its sister company, Natur Research Ingredients, recently announced its acquisition of the worldwide rights to Cweet(TM) natural intense sweetener, which is 1,000 times sweeter than cane sugar, which is comprised of brazzein, a sweet tasting protein extracted from the West African fruit of the plant Oubli.

On the functional food side, Danisco has recently stepped up its research into the sugar D-mannose, which is manufactured from birch and beech wood and is a natural product that can help towards countering urinary tract

infections. It has also just completed the €23 million expansion of its factory in Austria which produces xylose, the raw material of xylitol that has well documented dental benefits. Xylitol is approved for food use in more than 50 countries.

Early warning

A word of caution however comes from Reading based consultant RSSL, which says that just because a legal restriction might be lifted, that did not mean the technical challenges would get any easier.

"There's a lot of interest in natural sweeteners at present and also huge potential," says RSSL's Leanne Dodds. "However food companies shouldn't assume that it will be easy to switch from one sweetener to another should the opportunity arise. There are all kinds of technical challenges involved around issues such as taste, processing, stability and storage.

"We've already started working with clients who are assessing whether natural sweeteners could be used in specific products, and there are no guarantees. Other food products would do well to follow their lead and carry out formulation studies now so that should the regulations change, the development work has all been done to enable products to be launched as soon as possible."

Text Sheila Eggleston  Photography Shutterstock

Source: PureCircle