Stevia, Allulose, or a Custom Blend?
Sugar replacement continues to be widespread amongst consumers’ diets but is not always a simple task for food and beverage manufacturers. Stevia is one of the most popular ingredients manufacturers use and has come a long way in its development over the years. The taste is cleaner, the solubility has improved, and other ingredients can mask the off-notes that were associated with using stevia. Stevia does not raise blood sugar levels like real sugar, has zero calories, is natural, and has no adverse health effects. For these reasons, nutritionists typically recommend stevia to patients with diabetes or prediabetes. So, there seems to be a lot of good things going for stevia. Another clue that it is rising in popularity is large ingredient companies are manufacturing or partnering with stevia production. Tate and Lyle, Ingredion (PureCircle), ADM, and Cargill all have their own lines of stevia. They are supplying to brands that are looking to reduce sugar content in their products by up to 100%.
In addition to stevia, manufacturers are also turning to other ingredients like allulose when looking to replace the sugar content in their products. Allulose is a carbohydrate that adds almost no calories to a product due to its low absorption into the body. Because it provides an insignificant amount of energy to metabolize, it is excluded from total and added sugar amounts listed on a nutrition facts panel. Allulose is about 70% as sweet as sugar, so for consumers to swap out sugar for allulose, it is beneficial to add other sweeteners to complete the desired sweetness profile.
Removing sugar from different products can affect taste attributes like viscosity and mouthfeel. So, a one-for-one replacement using ingredients like stevia and allulose will not always give manufacturers the taste profile they are seeking. On the other hand, the right combination of sweeteners will create a flavor profile that better resembles that of sugar, instead of the bitter, metallic, and lingering aftertastes commonly associated with high-intensity sweeteners. By using a blend of different sweeteners, you hit several sweetness receptors at one time. What you get is a greatly enhanced perceived taste of the product.
Not only do we supply both stevia and allulose, but utilizing these two widely popular ingredients, we developed Legacy™SWEET. This is our line of proprietary blends aimed at replacing or reducing the sugar content in manufactured goods. Produced at our best-in-class manufacturing facility, Aviator, these sweetener blends are adaptable to virtually all products. IFPC’s Legacy™SWEET line accomplishes the task of removing sugar by offering sugar replacement products consisting of allulose or erythritol blended with other sweeteners like stevia, monk fruit, and sucralose. Utilizing one of our proprietary blends, Legacy™SWEET SP 9704, our R&D experts created a delicious, low-calorie beverage, IFPC’s Raspberry Lemonade.
Get in touch with an IFPC representative today to learn more about how we can help you find that oh-so-sweet sugar replacement for your product(s).
