SWEETER STEVIA
Cargill’s EverSweet Reb M and Reb D sweeteners enable dairy processors to create great-tasting products with deep calorie reductions and up to 100% sugar replacement. Unlike some other stevia products, EverSweet provides sweetness without bitterness or a licorice aftertaste, delivering a more rounded taste profile with a faster onset of sweetness, the company said. In developing EverSweet, Cargill’s scientists found that two glycosides in the stevia plant, Reb M and Reb D, offered heightened sweetness and a taste closer to real sugar. While these glycosides are rare in the stevia plant, Cargill produces them through fermentation. The result is a cost-efficient, great-tasting sweetener produced with the environment in mind.
800-454-7587; www.cargill.com
SOLUABLE FIBER
ADM/Matsutani LLC is offering Fibersol, a soluble prebiotic dietary fiber that has similar functionality to sugar and can serve as a sugar replacement in virtually any dairy product. In applications such as frozen yogurt, dietary fiber can replace up to 25% of the sugar and the product will still taste sweet without adding high-intensity sweeteners, the company said. In addition to lowering sugar, Fibersol can reduce calories and increase a product’s overall fiber content, all while remaining gentle on the digestive system. And because it remains stable under high-temperature and low-pH processing conditions, Fibersol allows for formulation and dairy processing versatility.
217-451-4377; www.fibersol.com
MALTED BARLEY EXTRACT
Malt Products Corp. said its malted barley extract is a less-intense sweetener with a glycemic index of 40 compared to white sugar’s 80. The extract also offers a unique flavor profile and health-related benefits related to digestion, sports recovery and antioxidants. The multifunctional ingredient acts as a natural humectant (moisture absorber) and enhances body and viscosity. Malt Products also supplies a broad spectrum of healthy natural sweeteners, including molasses, oat extract, rice syrup, tapioca syrup, agave and honey.
800-526-0180; www.MaltProducts.com
STEVIA FOR DAIRY
Brenntag North America said there is growing awareness from consumers about the health impact of empty calories, added sugar and nonfamiliar ingredients in food products. As a result, food marketers are eager to find solutions offering a clean, sweet taste with the least number of calories and a consumer-friendly ingredient statement. With these influences, zero-calorie plant-based sweetener stevia is finding its way into many new dairy product launches. The main categories of stevia inclusion are spoonable yogurt with and without fruit prep, drinkable kefir-type yogurt, cultured milk drinks, flavored milk and plant-based milk alternates. Brenntag’s stevia leaf extract Reb A, D and M are all applicable in dairy foods, including sweet desserts such as kulfi, frozen yogurts and ice creams.
317-764-3866; www.brenntag.com/food-nutrition
LOW-GLYCEMIC CARBOHYDRATE
Beneo said its new ingredient Palatinose is purely based on sucrose from sugar beets. It offers a unique alternative to high-glycemic carbohydrates, with all the nutritional and physiological advantages of a fully digestible slow-release carbohydrate. It provides natural energy in a balanced way with less blood glucose fluctuation and steadier insulin release, resulting in an improved metabolism to help burn more fat for energy. Palatinose delivers benefits for innovative dairy products such as milk beverages or yogurts, ice cream, puddings and custards. Nonfermentable by lactic acid bacteria, Palatinose provides manufacturers a way to offer new types of dairy products as a source of potential carbohydrate and weight management
973-867-2140; www.beneo.com
FUNCTIONAL GUM
Pocantico Resources added Tara gum to its growing line of healthy hydrocolloids for milk drinks, yogurts and frozen dairy. The company’s Vidogum SP (native tara E417) products are 100% natural gums milled and standardized in Switzerland from the endosperm of wild Tara seeds, which are native to Peru. The company said it recommends Tara gum, which is not unlike locust bean gum in structure, as a less-expensive alternative for improved viscosity and syneresis control with a full-bodied mouthfeel and impressive freeze-thaw stability. It can also be used to strengthen the gelling network of agar-agar and L-carrageenan. For use as a thickener, stabilizer or emulsifier, Tara gum has a superb functionality and is non-GMO, gluten-free and low calorie with the added benefit of soluble fiber.
914-631-3545; www.PocanticoResources.com
NEXT-GENERATION STEVIA
PureCircle said its next-generation stevia leaf sweetener, Reb M, allows for great-tasting experiences without the calories of sugar. All of the company’s stevia sweeteners are plant-based and non-GMO certified. These sweeteners help beverage and food companies increase their offerings of zero- and low-calorie products without sacrificing taste. Recent PureCircle advances enabled the company to significantly boost production of its next-generation stevia sweeteners — such as Reb M — that have the most sugar-like taste and are highly sought after by beverage and food companies. This means PureCircle is able to supply stevia sweeteners in the amounts customers need as they expand use of stevia.
630-361-0374; https://purecircle.com
HONEY FOR CLEAN LABELS
National Honey Board said honey is an all-natural sweetener made in the world’s most efficient factory: the bee hive. The ingredient is the ideal sweetener for dairy products looking to capitalize on all-natural, clean-label and indulgence-focused trends. Consumers have a positive perception of honey, and since it is made in nature, honey satisfies consumers’ clean-label demands. Honey also is versatile, adding flavor to milks, mouthfeel to ice creams and indulgence to yogurts.
303-776-2337; www.honey.com
CULTURE FOR SUGAR-REDUCTION
Chr. Hansen launched Sweety Y-1 — a culture that allows dairy manufacturers to create naturally sweeter products while reducing added sugar. The ingredient is a culture solution that uses Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus cultures. It can convert the existing sugars in milk, using more of the lactose and yielding glucose — providing a greater sweetness intensity, Chr. Hansen said. This means manufacturers can add less sugar and still get the same sweet-tasting product, which enables them to meet modern market trends and consumer demands for healthy food without compromising the taste of the product.
414-607-5700; www.chr-hansen.com
