Brands are turning to advanced ingredient solutions, like organic tapioca fiber and sweetness modulators, to reduce sugar without sacrificing taste or functionality.
Sugar’s contribution to a formula’s taste and texture continues to inform the technology behind clean label sugar reduction, meeting consumers’ evolving demands for naturally sweetened treats with similar attributes of sugar-sweetened counterparts.
“Sugar does a lot of things within a product,” like maintaining texture, retaining moisture and lengthening shelf life, said Renee Leber, technical services manager, Institute of Food Technologists.
Many companies are focused on “reducing, but not necessarily eliminating sugar” through sugar substitution methods, explained Leber.
Sugar substitution often involves a blend of ingredients depending on the product, Leber said.
“Companies will have to think through sweetness, volume, moisture, any ingredients that should be added for off flavors,” like modified food starch or sweetener systems, and potentially “bumping up” salt levels, she explained.
Aromatics, like natural or artificial flavors, also can serve as a solution, Leber said.
“If you increase sweet aromas, like vanilla, or things that would connotate that sweetness, people tend to perceive the product a little bit sweeter than they otherwise would. Can we take some of the sugar out? Can we add that aromatic in and have it kind of come to a similar sensory place to where it started?” she elaborated.
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Understanding sweet perception
Sweetness as a perception is considered one of the “only cues we have” for incoming calories, which contributes towards human growth, said Charles Spence, head of crossmodal research laboratory at the University of Oxford. In other words, when something tastes sweet, the brain may prepare for energy intake.
“We are all born with a kind of innate liking for sweetness, and an innate dislike to bitter things,” Spence explained, adding that humans’ familiarity towards sweetness could come from the womb and infancy due to the sweeter taste of amniotic fluid and breast milk.
Along with the other primary tastes – salty, bitter, sour and umami – sweetness can be modified by smell, Spence said.
“Most of us will think that vanilla smells sweet, that caramel smells sweet and when those sweet aromas are added to food and drinks, they will enhance what the consumer describes as tasted sweetness even though they are smelling,” he explained.
No- or low-calorie sweetened products may have a similar effect on weight gain as products sweetened with caloric sweeteners, because, over time, the brain becomes unable to discern between sweetness to energy intake, potentially leading to overeating or less satiety, Spence argued.
Further, US consumers are leaning towards caloric sweeteners like honey, brown sugar and sucrose over no- or low-calorie sweeteners, according to an International Food Information Council (IFIC) report last year. Sweeteners like aspartame, which was declared a possible carcinogen, and erythritol, which may be linked to cardiovascular risks, have been under scrutiny with researchers questioning their safety.
Ingredient companies, partnerships bolster sweetener offerings
Natural sweetener supplier, Icon Foods’ portfolio of sweetener solutions addresses sugar reduction using sweetness modulators like thaumatin, a low-calorie sweetener and taste modifier, and Reb M stevia leaf extract. The company aims to deliver under 5 grams of sugar per serving in beverages, gummies and baked goods, explained Thom King, CEO, Icon Foods.
Instead of focusing on sugar elimination, brands should focus on sugar reduction strategies that leverage sugar’s functional attributes with sweetness modulators, King advised. Icon’s ThauSweet DRM, for example, combines thaumatin and Reb M stevia for a perceived balanced sweetness profile. Organic Reb M leaf extract also serves as a taste modulator and can be labeled as a natural flavor, King added.
Last month, Oobli received a “no questions” letter from FDA for its second sweet protein monellin to achieve Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status. Monellin, made through precision fermentation from an engineered strain of Komagataella phaffii P-MON-040, is considered sweeter than brazzein. Brazzein is a protein found in the Oubli fruit that is 2,000–5,000 times sweeter than sugar, per reporting from FoodNavigator-USA.
Last year, the company also launched its first GRAS sweet protein, brazzein-53, claiming that it does not adversely impact the gut microbiome.
As the food and beverage industry awaits news over tariffs, companies look to future-proof their supply chain to ensure a secure and stable supply of sweeteners. In an effort to “democratize” sweeteners, Natural Sweetener Alliance – a partnership between Tate & Lyle and biotechnology company Manus – aims to deliver scalable, sustainable and reduced calorie sweeteners. The partnership leverages Tate & Lyle’s sweetener expertise and Manus’ bio-conversion technology to launch its Reb M, sourced and produced in the Americas.