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04Market Watch:Sweeteners
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3 Food Product Design | Spotlight on Sweeteners foodproductdesign.com
JUNE 2014
05Spotlight on Sweeteners
Consumers crave sugar, but they also want a low-calorie product equipped with a clean and natural label with as much flavor as its sugary counterpart. Food product designers have a wide range of sweeteners to choose from to reduce sugar content in foods and beverages while keeping them affordable, flavorful and satisfying.
04 Market Watch: Sweeteners
Over the years, consumption of total caloric sweeteners and added sweeteners has decreased. Americans are taking steps to limit or completely avoid added sugars in their food and beverage products, making the decline more rapid than ever before. With the decreasing numbers, growth in the high-intensity sweetener sector is occurring, and food product designers are shifting gears to adapt to the growing trend.
11Takeaways for Your Business
Food product designers are tasked with sweetening products without sacrificing taste, texture or affordability. This Digital Pulse Issue offers a closer look at current consumer perceptions and market trends across the sweeteners landscape, along with the resources needed to move forward in an evolving industry.
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SPOTLIGHT ON SWEETENERS
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4 Food Product Design | Spotlight on Sweeteners foodproductdesign.com
Market Watch
Market Watch:
Sweeteners
In recent years, the sugar content in food and beverage products has become a hot topic—one taking heat
from consumers, as well as from health and regulatory officials.Currently, one of the biggest
considerations for food and beverage manufacturers is the obesity epidemic in the United States. In 2012, the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Washington, D.C., issued a report outlining five goals for preventing obesity—one of which was making healthy food and beverage options available everywhere. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, more than 69 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, and health care costs related to obesity are estimated at $254 billion. Take into consideration consumer concern over sugar intake and a vast number of studies citing adverse health effects of consuming too many caloric sweeteners, and food and beverage product designers have their work cut out for them.However, the emphasis on sugar
reduction doesn’t stop there. FDA has proposed to update the Nutrition Facts label on most packaged foods to include “added sugars”—a term created by USDA in 2000 to let consumers know how much “extra” sweetener is in their food and beverage products. Much like the GMO-labeling conundrum, there’s some concern over misguiding consumers with the label change, considering nutritive sugars used to sweeten foods and beverages are
metabolically indistinguishable from naturally occurring sugars. Regardless, the change is sure to draw attention to sugar content, prompting industry to reduce calories—particularly those from sugar—without sacrificing taste or texture. In fact, sugar consumption is already down.According to data from USDA,
consumption of total caloric sweeteners—including high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), sugar, glucose, dextrose and edible syrups—in the United States has decreased from 45,048 million pounds in 2002 to 43,641 million pounds in 2012. Average U.S. per capita caloric consumption of added sweeteners—which consistently increased in the 1980s and 1990s—has now sustained a significant downward trend since 1999. Calories derived from added sweeteners reached about 429 calories/day per capita—or 22 percent of average total caloric intake—in 1999, but fell to an estimated 379 calories/day—or about 15 percent of average total caloric intake—by 2010.The demand for sugar reduction has led
to innovation and growth in the high-intensity sweeteners market. A recent report from Mintel, Chicago, and Leatherhead Food Research, Surrey, United Kingdom, estimates the global market for high-intensity sweeteners for food and beverage manufacturing reached $1.27 billion in 2013, and will increase to nearly $1.4 billion by 2017. Add in the growing demand for clean-
label products, and it’s no surprise to see “natural,” plant-based high-intensity sweeteners—such as stevia and monk fruit—gaining momentum in the market. The market for stevia-based sweeteners for use in food and beverages totaled $110 million in 2013, with Mintel forecasting $275 million by 2017.
Consumer PerceptionAccording to the International Food
Information Council Foundation (IFIC) 2014 Food & Health Survey, 91 percent of Americans have given thought to the healthfulness of their foods and beverages, and 86 percent have given thought to the ingredients in foods and beverages they consume.Specifically, 3 out of 5 Americans take
sugar content in foods and beverages into consideration for prevention of health conditions (61 percent) and to maintain a healthy weight (59 percent). More than half of consumers (53 percent) don’t feel it’s necessary to completely eliminate sugars in order to lose weight, and 74 percent said moderate amounts of sugar can be part of a healthful diet.Data from the IFIC survey also found
that consumers are paying attention to the types of sweeteners in their food and beverage products. Fifty-one percent are trying to limit or avoid added sugars in general, whereas 48 percent are trying to limit or avoid HFCS, 33 percent aspartame, 30 percent fructose, and 16 percent stevia, among others. ■
By Rachel Adams | Assistant Editor
5 Food Product Design | Spotlight on Sweeteners foodproductdesign.com
Editors' ReviewA look at emerging sweetener ingredients.
Growth of “natural” high-intensity sweeteners, like stevia and monk fruit.
Sweetener trends in bakery, beverages, confectionery and dairy applications.
By Rachel Adams | Assistant Editor
According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2010, men consume an average of 355 kcals from added sugars per day, and women 239 kcals. This far exceeds recommendations from the American Heart Association to consume no more than 150 calories per day from added sugars for men, and 100 for women. As health officials point to these figures and our expanding waistlines, it leaves food product designers with the task of reducing sugar in our foods and beverages, while still crafting products consumers will eat, and products they can afford.In today’s world, however, product
designers have a lot to consider when choosing sweetening ingredients, and taste, cost and functionality are just pieces of the puzzle. Consumers are increasingly demanding products made with simpler, “natural” ingredients, while concerns surrounding the obesity epidemic have prompted regulators—and consumers—to take a closer look
at sugar consumption. And so, the stage is set, but which direction are sweeteners heading?
Less Is MoreOne major issue affecting the
sweeteners market is the obesity epidemic. More than one-third of U.S. adults are obese, along with 17 percent of U.S. children. Obesity rates remained stable in the United States until 1980 when they then began to climb rapidly, topping off in 2013 with 35.7 percent of the U.S. population considered obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta. There are many factors that might explain the spike in obesity rates, yet, sugar consumption takes a lot of the heat.Sugar consumption is on the decline,
and has been since 2000. It's important to note, however, that in 1999, sugar consumption was at its peak. In 1999 the average American consumed 50 teaspoons of added sugars—including HFCS, sugar, glucose, dextrose, edible
syrups and honey—daily, according to USDA, compared to 43 teaspoons in 2012. Sugar consumption had leveled around 40 teaspoons daily in the early 1980s, but then steadily climbed until the downward trend started in 2000. In fact, the last time sugar consumption was as low as it was in 2012 was in 1988, when sugar consumption was on the rise, along with obesity. According to NHANES data, by 1988, obesity rates had climbed to 23 percent of U.S. adults, up from 15 percent in 1980. As we know, obesity rates continued to rise, along with sugar consumption. And while sugar consumption began to decline in 2000, obesity rates continued to rise, which raises the question—is sugar consumption to blame for the obesity epidemic? Likely, not. Does sugar consumption play a role? Likely, yes. Regardless, attention has turned to “added sugars.”
Spotlight on
Sweeteners
Product designers have a lot to consider when choosing sweetening ingredients.
There’s no doubt that sweeteners have made their place in the world. Whether crafting our favorite cookies, sweetening our sodas or satisfying function and flavor needs in our baked goods, sweeteners provide the taste consumers want.
And today we have an entire toolbox of sweet ingredients to choose from. However, the quest to address our collective sweet tooth, yet deal with myriad challenges presented by using and consuming sweeteners, makes this a dynamic area in the food industry.
6 Food Product Design | Spotlight on Sweeteners foodproductdesign.com
What’s more, FDA has proposed updating the Nutrition Facts Label to include “added sugars,” along with revising the format and overall appearance of the label. According to FDA, the addition of “added sugars” to the label will help consumers understand how much sugar is naturally occurring in a product and how much has been added. Americans get 16 percent of their total calories from added sugars, primarily from soda, energy drinks, sports drinks, grain-based desserts, sugar-sweetened fruit drinks, dairy-based desserts and candy. Although added sugars are metabolically indistinguishable from naturally occurring sugars, FDA said added sugars provide
no additional nutrient value and tend to cause reduced consumption of nutrient-dense foods and increase overall calorie intake. If passed, this—along with the other proposed changes—would be the first changes to the Nutrition Facts label since FDA required the declaration of trans fats on the label in 2006. The addition of added sugars to the label
could have a dramatic effect on the way consumers view sweetener ingredients in food and beverage products. Nate Yates, business director, Enliten and NA sweetness innovation, Ingredion Inc., Westchester, Illinois, said, “A label change like this will quickly increase consumer awareness and pressure food companies to reduce sugar, added or not.”And as though it’s not asking enough to
trim calories from the American diet, many consumers are demanding products made with ingredients considered natural. “We expect the consumer trend for healthy, better-for-you products to continue, increasing demand for great-tasting, lower-calorie products,” said Amy Lauer, marketing manager, North America, Tate & Lyle, Hoffman Estates, Illinois.Consumers are increasingly seeking
“clean-label” products with short, simple ingredient statements made with familiar-sounding ingredients lacking complex, chemical names. This puts some artificial sweeteners in a tough spot. According to Thom King, president, Steviva Ingredients, Portland, Oregon, “Nonnutritive, chemical-based sweeteners like acesulfame K, sucralose and aspartame, and nutritive sweeteners like HFCS and sucrose, are falling under quite a bit of consumer scrutiny.” Yates added, “Sweeteners that are
perceived as highly processed and/or chemically artificial have been under pressure. More and more, consumers are really trying to understand what they are putting in their bodies and making purchasing decisions based on the ingredients in foods.” The trend, he said, “will most likely influence all food
ingredients for the foreseeable future.”However, the solid truth remains—if it
doesn’t taste good, consumers won’t buy it. “Consumers have become wary of ingredients that don’t deliver on the promise of taste,” said Ihab Bishay, Ph.D., senior director, new business development, Ajinomoto North America, Inc., Itasca, Illinois. “Over and over again, consumers have shown that taste is what drives product success, so when they are looking to reduce sugar and calories, they are not willing to sacrifice on taste.”While nonnutritive natural sweeteners
have come a long way since they first entered the market, they still have to compete with the tastes consumers know and love—sugar and aspartame are two prime examples. Fortunately for food product designers, a plethora of sweetener options are available that can create products that align with consumers’ wants, while still meeting the demand for healthier products.
The Debate Over HFCS Consumers are paying attention to the
ingredients in their foods and beverages, and seeking products made with more “natural” ingredients. This puts certain ingredients that fall outside the “natural” spectrum, such as HFCS, under consumer fire.According to the International Food
Information Council’s 2014 Food & Health Survey, 48 percent of Americans indicate that they are trying to limit or avoid HFCS, which has been blamed for the obesity epidemic along with a slew of health conditions, including cancer, heart disease, dementia and tooth decay. Supporting the paranoia surrounding HFCS is the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which petitioned FDA in 2013 to determine safe limits on HFCS and other sugars in soft drinks, despite FDA’s approval of HFCS as GRAS. Despite the fuss, research has consistently deemed HFCS safe for consumption.
7 Food Product Design | Spotlight on Sweeteners foodproductdesign.com
A 2009 study about the effects of HFCS, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition (2009 Dec;28(6):619-26) found it was unlikely HFCS was a greater contributor than sucrose to obesity or other health conditions, largely because the composition of HFCS and sucrose is so similar, particularly based on how it is absorbed by the body. The most commonly used types of HFCS (HFCS-42 and HFCS-55) are similar in composition to sucrose, and consist of roughly equal amounts of fructose and glucose. The primary difference is that these monosaccharides exist free in solution in HFCS, but in disaccharide form in sucrose. The disaccharide sucrose is easily cleaved in the small intestine, so free fructose and glucose are absorbed from both sucrose and HFCS. The authors of the study concluded, “At the present time, there is insufficient evidence to ban or otherwise restrict use of HFCS or other fructose-containing sweeteners in the food supply or to require the use of warning labels on products containing HFCS. Nevertheless, dietary advice to limit consumption of all added caloric sweeteners, including HFCS, is warranted.”While consumers claim to avoid certain
sweeteners, like HFCS, a recent study, Sweetener360, commissioned by the Corn Refiner’s Association, Washington, D.C., and completed in part by Nielsen and Mintel Consulting, found that consumers’ shopping behaviors may not align with their biases. The study identified six distinct lifestyle segments that, when combined, account for 88 percent—or $54.8 billion—of sales across 15 high-volume food and beverages. The lifestyle segments ranged from “No Health Worries Walter,” who admits to choosing foods primarily based on taste with little concern for nutrition, to “All Natural Stacey,” who reads labels, researches nutrition and ultimately is considered the most health-conscious consumer.The study determined spending does
not differ greatly across different
lifestyles and sweetener types, meaning despite consumers claiming to avoid HFCS, their shopping habits prove differently. The survey found 75 percent of consumers say they regularly or occasionally read nutritional information or ingredient lists on food and beverage labels. Yet, in unaided responses, only 4.6 percent read such nutritional information to avoid HFCS specifically. Instead, they’re more interested in avoiding total sugars than a specific type of sweetener.Further, the study found 67 percent of
consumers agree that to be healthy, moderation is more important than sweetening ingredients. And when asked if they were willing to sacrifice taste for a healthier food or beverage, the answer was a resounding no. Even among the most health-conscious group, only 33.8 percent would sacrifice taste. This means despite the hullabaloo, all varieties of sweeteners are still in the game.
Sweeteners GaloreNaturally occurring, carbohydrate-based
sugars are found in many plants and fruits. Mono- and disaccharides, such as sucrose and fructose, are among the most common. Most of these possess sweetness indices of relatively close to 1—where 1 represents the sweetness of sugar—compared to high-intensity sweeteners with indices several hundred or even thousands of times sweeter than sugar. For example, fructose has an index of 1.3 and, on the lower end of the scale, maltose has a reported sweetness index of 0.2 to 0.4. Common syrups, molasses and honey also hover around the 1 mark (depending on their composition). Polyols, such as mannitol, sorbitol and xylitol, also
have sweetness ratings of near 1 with values beginning approximately at 0.5, 0.6 and 0.95, respectively. Polyols are a group of sugar-
replacement ingredients used frequently in confectionery. Depending on the ingredient, polyols establish and maintain the structure of hard-boiled candies throughout shelf life and keep gums soft and pliable over time. In other confections, such as jellies, gummies, taffies, fondants and caramels, some polyols help to establish the crystalline or semi-crystalline structure that defines a particular confection, while other polyols serve to control the rate of crystallinity for shelf-life purposes. They also work well with high-intensity sweeteners to establish the sweetness and flavor profiles consumers expect. Polyols can serve these same purposes and more in nutritional bars, baked goods, ice creams and other products. The portfolio of polyols available offers
a wide range of properties, which allows convenient replacement of sucrose and sweeteners in many formulations. Of the polyols, xylitol is the sweetest and approximates sugar with 100 percent the sweetness of sucrose. Erythritol is about 70 percent, maltitol has 80 percent, mannitol (50 percent as sweet) and sorbitol (60 percent). Maltitol, maltitol syrups and
polyglycitols are very similar in molecular weight to sugars and corn syrups and can replace them in many applications—particularly in confectionery, dairy and bakery applications. In these applications, maltitol and maltitol syrups can also work well with stevia or other high-intensity sweeteners to achieve a good sweetness profile.
The survey found 75 percent of consumers say they regularly or occasionally read nutritional information or ingredient lists on food and beverage labels.
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9 Food Product Design | Spotlight on Sweeteners foodproductdesign.com
High-intensity sweeteners are often classified into natural or artificial categories. Those considered artificial include saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame K, sucralose and advantame. Saccharin is 300 times sweeter than sugar; aspartame is approximately 200 times sweeter; acesulfame K is 200 times sweeter; and sucralose—a sugar derivative—is 600 times sweeter. Advantame—recently approved by FDA for use as a general-purpose sweetener and flavor enhancer—is about 20,000 times sweeter than sucrose.While artificial sweeteners may receive
pushback from label-reading consumers, their clean taste keeps them on the map, especially in reduced-calorie or -sugar foods and beverages. According to Bishay, “Good tasting, clean sweeteners continue to gain traction in the marketplace because they don’t distort or add off taste to the foods and beverages they are used in.”Ajinomoto’s advantame ingredient,
made from vanillin and aspartame, offers a clean, sugar-like taste, functionality and low cost-in-use, and can be used to partially replace caloric sweeteners and other high-potency sweeteners in foods and beverages, Bishay said. The ingredient can be used to enhance flavors such as dairy, fruit, citrus and mint, and can be used to extend sweetness duration in chewing gum and improve the sweetness profile of many confections. When used in conjunction with “natural” nonnutritive sweeteners—which are prone to adding off-flavors or bitter notes—the ingredient helps to mask the off-flavors.Sucralose is a powerful zero-calorie
sweetener that can be used alone or in combination with other sweeteners. This chlorinated sugar compound delivers 400 to 600 times the sweetness of sucrose. Tate & Lyle’s sucralose ingredient offers 600 times the sweetness of sugar. It can be used in a variety of applications, including beverages (still, sparkling, soft drinks, juices and waters), dairy (yogurt,
smoothies, milk, ice cream and novelties), and jams, jelly, fruit preparations, confectioneries, baked goods and puddings, Lauer said. The ingredient’s good stability makes it suitable for a wide variety of food manufacturing processes, and it stays sweet on the shelf.With consumers demanding more
natural ingredients, some food product designers are going back to basics when considering sweetener options. Maple syrup and honey are two such ingredients. Maple syrup is considered natural by consumers, and offers a familiar flavor and versatility. Honey offers a range of potential flavor profiles to work with, since there are more than 300 floral sources for honey in the United States. Other syrups gaining traction, especially
in bakery, include tapioca syrup and agave. “Options such as tapioca syrup have become reliable alternative sweeteners [in bakery],” Yates said. “These sweeteners allow for many similar functional benefits as the more traditional nutritive sweeteners. We also see some alternatives, such as agave, which introduce a differentiated value proposition—natural. These sweeteners are often non-GMO as well, which broadens the marketing options for the food manufacturer.”According to Yates, tapioca syrup is
glucose-based with a carbohydrate profile similar to more traditional syrups, and can provide bulk, binding, sheen, humectancy and other attributes, and at a mild sweetness level. In sheeted bars, for example, tapioca syrup works as a binding ingredient. Agave syrup—due to its naturally high level of fructose—provides a high level of sweetness compared to a corresponding sucrose syrup. Agave syrup can provide sweetness and soft texture to items such as soft batch cookies.
Quest For NaturalThe clean-label trend has launched
natural sweeteners into the spotlight.
Coupled with an effort to reduce calories and added sugars in food and beverages, nonnutritive, natural sweeteners, like stevia and monk fruit, are seeing a surge in popularity.“The desire to live a healthy lifestyle is
driving consumers to adjust their diets accordingly,” said David Nichols, global marketing manager, PureCircle USA, Inc., Oak Brook, Illinois. “Taste is still king, but other factors, such as ingredient safety, naturalness and calorie content are becoming more important in consumers’ purchase decisions.”Stevia ingredients are all-natural, high-
intensity sweetener extracts from the stevia plant (Stevia rebaudiana). Multiple compounds within the stevia leaves—steviol glycosides—have characteristics ranging from sweet to bitter. The glycosides that make up the sweet constituents of the stevia leaf are stevioside (250 to 300 times the sweetness of sugar), rebaudioside A (the most sweet at 250 to 300 times the sweetness of sugar) rebaudioside C and dulcoside A (which are not really used as sweetening agents since they are bitter). There are also rebaudioside B, D and E present, but they are in such small quantities that it isn’t cost-effective to extract them.
10 Food Product Design | Spotlight on Sweeteners foodproductdesign.com
Technology and innovation have reduced issues associated with some of the first-generation stevia ingredients—such as bitterness imparted at higher concentrations and a licorice aftertaste. “The convergence of technology, science and biology have developed new cultivars which yield higher levels of the sweet constituents—steviol glycosides—found in the stevia leaf,” King said. “The result of these advances have led to better-tasting stevia extracts with higher yields and lower cost of goods sold.”However, despite advances in stevia
ingredients, Reb A is not a drop-in solution, and often requires additional ingredients to mask bitter notes. According to Lauer, “Many stevia products with high concentrations of rebaudioside A must be formulated with other sweeteners and masking agents because of rebaudioside A’s bitterness.”She cited sensory research by Tate &
Lyle showing as many as 83 percent of consumers are sensitive to Reb A bitterness. To address the need for improved taste, Tate & Lyle developed a proprietary stevia sweetener which does not have intense bitter/licorice aftertastes, therefore eliminating the need to use additional sweeteners or masking agents. In 2012, PureCircle introduced a stevia
product to overcome challenges previously associated with stevia-based sweeteners that uses a variety of stevia compounds in a multi-ingredient approach that can provide upfront sweetness, reduce lingering sweetness, deliver a cleaner sweet taste at higher sweetness levels or enhance a certain flavor note, depending on which ingredients from PureCircle’s portfolio are added to the stevia system. “This new approach considered the complexities of each formulation and applied application expertise to identify the optimal combination of PureCircle’s proprietary ingredients,” Nichols said.Another nonnutritive sweetener
gaining popularity on the “natural”
scene is monk fruit, or lo han guo. Monk fruit is a melon grown in China; its powdered extract is 150 to 200 times sweeter than sugar. Mogroside V is the monk-fruit isolate that provides a rounded sweetness character sought after in many product-development applications. Monk fruit tends to work best in flavor systems that have an inherent bitterness, like teas. However, monk fruit juice concentrate is making headway into flavored milks.
Beverage BonanzaNatural, high-intensity sweeteners not
only adhere to consumer demands for cleaner labels, but can easily reduce calories in sugar-sweetened beverages. These sugary drinks are routinely being blamed as a major contributor to the obesity epidemic; from a commonsense point of view, that’s not an incredulous accusation. One liter of a standard cola carbonated beverage contains 420 kcal, all from sugar. The consumption of 8 liters of cola (or any other standard carbonate beverage) per week amounts to the caloric equivalent of 1 pound of body fat. Therefore, substituting standard soft drinks with no- and low-calorie
alternatives might make a difference to a person’s body weight in the medium-to-long term.According to King, stevia is seeing the
most growth in the beverage industry, specifically in soft drinks and energy drinks. Both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo launched reduced-calorie beverages sweetened partially with stevia. Coca-Cola Life—sweetened with a combination of sugar and stevia—was launched in Chile and Argentina in 2013, with plans to expand the product to other undisclosed markets. In 2012, PepsiCo launched Pepsi Next
in Australia—sweetened with both sugar and stevia and boasting a 30-percent reduction in calories. Pepsi Next also launched in the United States in 2012, boasting 60 percent less sugar than traditional Pepsi-Cola. However, the U.S. version is sweetened with a mixture of HFCS, aspartame, acesulfame K and sucralose—no stevia included.The juice sector has been a particular
area of success for stevia. Consumers are already attracted to the naturally healthy aspect of juice—particularly 100-percent juice—although its high sugar content has made some health-conscious consumers wary.PepsiCo, in 2009, launched its
Tropicana Trop50 brand—a blend of juice and water and sweetened with stevia—which has seen immense success in the United States. In less than three years, Trop50 value sales reached $149 million, claiming 10-percent share of off-trade volumes in the nectars (25- to 99-percent juice) category in 2012. This product—and others like it—allow consumers to enjoy a nice glass of “natural” juice while keeping calories in check.Monk fruit is also appearing in some
carbonated beverages, such as Zevia zero-calorie soda products that contain a mixture of stevia, monk fruit and erythritol.
Flavored MilksFlavored milks have been an area of
contention in recent months, as demands
Natural high-intensity sweeteners not only adhere to consumer demands for cleaner labels, but can easily reduce calories in sugar-sweetened beverages.
11 Food Product Design | Spotlight on Sweeteners foodproductdesign.com
Commodity prices are always a top priority for food companies. In fact, commodity prices have been volatile for more than a decade, creating new levels of inflation that have dramatically impacted budgeting and profit margins for food companies.A number of factors are affecting
sugar prices—both globally and in the United States—including a surplus of sugar availability, increased production costs and the possibility of restricted sugar imports from Mexico into the United States. This puts food companies in the middle of the volatile market, struggling to access competitively priced commodities that still meet their needs.According to Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, large sugar availabilities in the main producing regions—Thailand, India and Australia— pushed the Sugar Price Index down 1.6 percent since March 2014. Declining prices are no stranger to the sugar market—the annual average price of sugar has dropped consistently each year from about 26 cents per pound in 2011 to roughly 17 cents per pound in 2014, according to data from the International Sugar Organization (ISO), London. However, increases in sugar consumption in developing countries—made possible by falling
prices—has set the stage for global sugar consumption to increase approximately 2 percent in 2013-14.Increased production costs may also
affect the sugar and sweetener market. According to USDA, average costs for global cane sugar production increased 69 percent due to increased labor costs, capital and intermediate inputs; beet sugar production costs increased 48 percent due to increases in field operations; and high-fructose syrup (HFS) increased 64 percent, which varied proportionally with the cost of purchased feedstocks, mainly corn.In the United States, “The U.S. sugar
supply/demand balance is tighter today than it was a year ago,” said Steve Hines, vice president, marketing, United Sugars Corporation, Bloomington, Minnesota. Hines cited USDA estimates projecting sugar stocks at the end of the current crop year—Sept. 30, 2014—to be 12.9 percent of annual usage, compared with stocks at 17.9 percent of usage at the end of September 2013. According to Hines, USDA generally considers the market to be in balance if stocks are between 14 percent and 15 percent of annual usage.“By far, the largest unknown
overhanging the market is uncertainty about the outcome of a petition filed in
late March to establish antidumping and countervailing duties on the sugar imports from Mexico,” Hines said, adding if imports of sugar from Mexico are restricted, the market would become substantially tighter. While a lot could happen over the
next 16 months, USDA is currently forecasting even tighter stocks for the year ending September 2015—at only 9.1 percent of anticipated usage—which includes 1.421 million short tons (raw value) of imports from Mexico, Hines said. “If imports are eliminated, the projected stocks-to-use ratio would drop to less than zero. Of course if imports from Mexico were restricted or eliminated, USDA would have no alternative but to allow additional imports of sugar from other countries to supply the market.”Unfortunately, there’s no way to
consistently predict commodity pricing over time. Even the experts can be wrong about price direction. Betting that the market will only go in one direction or the other is highly risky. This means those with purchasing power have to manage price risks, which can help those in the food and beverage industry whose margins are subject to material variability caused by price volatility. ■
Understanding Sugar Prices in a Volatile MarketBy Rachel Adams | Assistant Editor
12 Food Product Design | Spotlight on Sweeteners foodproductdesign.com
to reduce calories and sugar intake—especially to improve nutrition for children—is battling the need to increase intake of key nutrients, especially those found in milk, like protein and calcium.A study published in April 2014 in the
journal PLOS ONE found eliminating chocolate milk from 11 Oregon schools caused children to consume less sugar and fewer calories. On the flip side, the children consumed less protein and calcium, and also ate less of their school lunches altogether (PLoS ONE 9(4): e91022. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0091022). To reduce calories and sugar in flavored
milks, manufacturers are using stevia and other high-intensity sweeteners to keep taste up to par—which is especially crucial when crafting products for children—while improving nutrition. According to King, stevia is seeing gains with flavored milk, as well as with fruit preparations in yogurt. “However stevia must be blended with other bulking sweeteners to achieve proper mouthfeel and flavor profile,” he said.And that’s not the only challenge
product designers are facing when reducing sugar in flavored milks. Currently, FDA requires flavored milk sweetened with a nonnutritive sweetener to carry a nutrient content claim, like “reduced calorie.” In March 2009, the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), Arlington, Virginia, petitioned FDA, requesting the agency amend the standard of identity for milk and 17 other dairy products to allow for the use of any “safe and suitable sweetener” as an optional ingredient—including nonnutritive sweeteners—which would remove the current label requirement.According to IDFA and NMPF, labels
such as “reduced calorie” and “no added sugar” aren’t kid-friendly, which is why the proposed rule—submitted by FDA in February 2013—if passed, would no longer require a “reduced calorie” claim on flavored milks
containing artificial sweeteners. The proposal, not yet finalized, received more than 40,000 comments.
Emerging SweetenersNew and emerging sweeteners
are hitting the marketplace, many of which fall in line with consumers’ demands for less caloric, healthier and “natural.” Of these, four emerging sweet proteins to watch for include: monellin, miraculin, curculin and brazzein. Monellin is a protein-based sweetener that provides 1,500 times the sweetness of sugar and approximately 4 calories per gram. Miraculin, although not a sweetener, changes the way flavors are perceived. Curculin is a fruit-derived protein that modifies perceived taste, but for far shorter periods of time than miraculin. Brazzein is roughly 1,000 times sweeter than sugar, and has a taste profile similar to sugar with virtually no aftertaste.However, the only sweet protein
considered GRAS in the United States is thaumatin, considered 2,000 times as sweet as sugar. It exhibits delayed onset of intense sweetness and a lingering licorice aftertaste. Thaumatin is typically used in conjunction with other high-intensity sweeteners, and in confections, can increase and prolong spearmint, peppermint and citrus flavor impacts. In reduced-fat frozen desserts, it improves flavor and perceived mouthfeel, and in savory applications, thaumatin can facilitate salt reduction by enhancing spicy notes and providing a more rounded overall flavor.Another emerging sweetener comes
from bitter oranges, which contain a flavonoid called neohesperidin. Hydrogenation of neohesperidin yields neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (NHDC), which is 1,500 to 1,800 times
sweeter than sugar and exhibits synergy with other sweeteners, increasing their sweetening effect and masking off/bitter notes. NHDC can also improve overall flavor and perceived mouthfeel in dairy products.Other sweeteners to watch for include
licorice root—which is isolated from certain species of Glycyrrhiza and provides a sweetness 50 times that of sugar—and monatin, an amino acid with a flavor profile similar to that of sucrose, but roughly 1,400 times more sweet. Monatin imparts a quick flavor onset, clean sweetness and no aftertaste, making it well-suited for use as the sole sweetening agent in formulations. Licorice root, however, provides a distinct licorice note, making it unsuitable for delicate flavor systems. While the sweeteners landscape is still
unfolding, Richard Peterson, senior vice president, nutrition, food & beverage, Rochem International, Ronkonkoma, New York, concluded, “The goal remains to find cleaner tasting sweeteners that have fewer application limitations. Research continues to uncover those forms of low-calorie sweeteners and you will see new options coming to market. The distinct variations in processing of food, beverages and confectionery are unlikely to be solved by a single new sweetener, but I am confident steps forward will continue to be made.” ■
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14 Food Product Design | Spotlight on Sweeteners foodproductdesign.com
In this latest Food Product Design Digital Pulse “Spotlight On Sweeteners,” industry experts offer a closer look at current consumer perceptions and market trends across the sweeteners landscape, along with the resources needed to move forward in an evolving industry.Now more than ever, consumers want
“clean-label” products containing simple ingredients with minimal added sugar, causing them to make purchase decisions based on their food products’ ingredients lists. This challenges food product designers to reduce or replace sugar in foods and beverages while still yielding a product that consumers will buy and enjoy. Although certain ingredients fall outside the “natural” spectrum, research on consumers’
shopping patterns indicates that all varieties of sweeteners are still in the game. Polyols, maltitols, polyslycitols and high-intensity sweeteners may receive pushback from the health-conscious consumer, but their usefulness in maintaining structure and taste keeps them on the map.On the other hand, some food product
designers have dipped their toes into options that consumers consider more natural, such as maple syrup, honey, tapioca syrup and agave. Other trending natural sweeteners include stevia and monk fruit, which are both soaring in popularity. The demand for cleaner, greener
products doesn’t stop with food products. Sugary drinks receive a bulk of the blame from consumers and health
officials alike when it comes to the obesity epidemic, causing many to switch from the traditional soda to a low-calorie alternative. Stevia has appeared more and more within the beverage industry, specifically in reduced-calorie soft drinks, energy drinks and juices. Other emerging sweeteners to keep on the radar include sweet proteins like thaumatin, a new sweetener derived from bitter oranges, and the amino acid monotint. These are just a few of the options hitting the market as “natural” alternatives for the increasingly health-conscious consumer.Looking for other resources on
sweeteners? Check out Food Product Design’s free Digital Pulse Issues “Survival Guide: Sweeteners” and “Optimizing Sweetness.” Also read “Navigating the Landscape of Sweetener Formulations,” a free Report from Food Product Design’s FoodTech Toolbox. ■
— By Kate Kunkel | Editorial Intern
Takeawaysfor Your Business
Influenced by stricter dietary recommendations from health officials and a determination to lose weight, many Americans find themselves stuck in the middle of a confusing health controversy involving sugar and sweeteners. For food
product designers, this means adjusting to fit current consumer demands for more “naturally sweetened” products without sacrificing taste, texture or affordability.
15 Food Product Design | Spotlight on Sweeteners foodproductdesign.com
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Swamy Anantheswaran, Ph.D.Professor of Food EngineeringPennsylvania State University
University Park, PA
Donald Goodman, Ph.D.President M & D Technologies, Inc.
Columbus, MS
Lowell Satterlee, Ph.D.Director, Food and Agricultural
Products Research CenterOklahoma State University Stillwater, OK
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Clemson UniversityClemson, SC
