Sweetener Solutions for Food, Beverage Product Development

Sweeteners, whether natural or artificial, are an ongoing hot topic of conversation in the food and beverage industry. Increasing obesity rates have critics pointing fingers toward sweeteners, leaving food product designers to resolve challenges focusing on sugar reduction and the debate over what is considered natural in food and beverage products.

As the proposed labeling of “added sugar" on Nutrition Facts labels nears, food manufacturers are seriously re-evaluating sweetener system design for their products. The vast array of replacement options, combined with the requirement to maintain the same sensory profile, throughput and ease of processing, makes reformulation extremely challenging.

A number of sweeteners, including low-cal and natural options, have been launched in response to demand for healthier ingredients that don’t skimp on taste. Irrespective of working with natural or artificial ingredients, formulating with alternative sweeteners is challenging due to differences to sugar in terms of performance and functionality in various food systems, as well as cost.

This hot topic will be discussed during the Food Product Design track of the SupplySide West Education program, sponsored by BASF, Tuesday, Oct. 6 from 11-11:50 a.m. I invite you to join Catalin Moraru, Ph.D., group leader, International Food Network, and Juan Pellecer, group leader, International Food Network, who will lead the “Sweetener Solutions for Food and Beverage Product Development" session.

Attendees will learn about sweetness perception, changes, and trends in low calorie- sweeteners; emerging technologies and new developments as solutions available in the formulator’s toolbox; and the selection of sweeteners for specific applications.

I look forward to seeing you at SupplySide West.