Last year, 20% of product launches in the food and beverage segment included claims like ‘no’, ‘low’, or ‘reduced’ sugar. The low sugar attribute has become extremely important in the yogurt segment, with more than one in every ten launches featuring no sugar claims, which is up by 4% since 2018. While reducing sugar intake is not a novel idea, influential governments are enforcing strict laws in and around the food chain to control the amount of sugar used.
In a recent announcement, the USDA took a strong stance on limiting added sugar in school meals. By the fall of 2027, added sugar would account for no more than 10% of total calories per week, and other packaged products, such as dry cereal, milk, or yogurt, would be zero or low in sugar. Over 50 countries around the world have imposed sugar taxes on soft drinks and foods (including Germany, Australia, India, Spain, France, and Mexico) in order to reduce sugar consumption to some extent.
Technology for reducing sugar consumption has gained popularity in addition to sugar substitutes. To meet the demand for sugar reduction, a few companies have developed novel technologies. Better Juice has created a patented enzymatic technology that reduces sugar in fruit juices by converting simple sugars into non-digestible fibers. The company has already started using this technology to reduce sugar levels in fruit sorbets. NutraEx Food has created a new sweetener called BI-Sugar using their patented dry-embedding technology. This technology uses a dry process to embed powerful sweeteners such as stevia and monk fruit into a base material like sucrose. This guarantees that the food products are mixed with the sweeteners uniformly. An enzyme developed by the UK-based startup Zya can turn up to 30% of sugar into fiber in our guts. Without altering the taste of any product, these enzymes can have a long-lasting impact on the human body.
In order to satisfy the rising consumer demand for clean-label products, companies are introducing plant-based alternatives in their portfolios. Roquette and Bonumose have entered into a partnership to enhance the production of tagatose, a natural sweetener with health benefits. Tagatose mimics the taste and cooking properties of white sugar and has a very low glycemic index. Fooditive Group launched new plant-based sweeteners, such as keto-fructose derived from apples and pears. Tate & Lyle recently introduced two new sweetener options: Optimizer Stevia 8.10, a new stevia-based sweetener, and sucralose. Optimizer stevia is produced through a unique process that maximizes the natural components of the stevia leaf. On the other hand, sucralose is a safer alternative to aspartame, dissolves well in hot beverages, and has a similar texture to sugar.
Companies are working on improving the taste and performance of sweeteners. For instance, Shiru and Ajinomoto Health and Nutrition recently collaborated to develop sweet proteins that are healthier and stronger alternatives to sugar. Howtian’s line of stevia-based sweeteners now includes SoPure Andromeda. It is made with a combination of different steviol glycosides to improve taste and performance while minimizing aftertaste.
To dominate the sugar reduction market, manufacturers are heavily implementing new inventions and technologies. Stevia, allulose, and monk fruit are coming up as the top three ingredients being used by sugar substitute manufacturers. The persistent consumer trend toward healthier and more cost-effective sugar substitutes without sacrificing flavor is what is driving these innovations. In the near future, manufacturers may be encouraged to refocus their efforts from producing traditional sugar products to more advanced sugar reduction technologies and ingredients due to consumer demand and regulatory push.
