The new sweetener for consideration is rebaudioside A, a highly sweet (200 to 300 times sweeter than sucrose), natural steviol glyco-side isolated from the leaf of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni), a plant found in South America, but now grown in several countries. Late last year, two companies received GRAS notification letters from FDA for the sweetener’s use in food and beverages, and several other companies have self-affirmed GRAS. Rebaudioside A has excellent heat and acid stability, as well as good sweetness at prescribed use levels. This stability makes it a good candidate for all confectionery applications. Any bitterness at higher use levels can often be coun-tered with other (bulk) sweeteners, addition of other flavors, or adjustment of typical acidulants. Rebaudioside A has successfully been used in hard candies as the sole sweetener (polyglycitol syrup supplying the bulk of the product), although much of its initial use has been in beverage and tabletop applications.
Over the last decade, the range of options has made the migration of full-sugar to sugar-free or reduced-sugar an easier one for the product developer, resulting in better, more-appealing products. A combination of better understanding of the ingredient’s chemistry and its role in the end-product’s characteristics (through supplier-customer teamwork) can lead to lower-calorie, better-tasting confectionery for consumers.
Ronald C. Deis, Ph.D. is vice president of applications research and technical service at Corn Products U.S., Westchester, IL, and has been with the company (formerly SPI Polyols), for over 9 years. He holds a Ph.D. in food science from Penn State University and has over 30 years industry experience and can be reached at
ron.deis@cornproducts.com
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A Matter of Taste
According to a 2007 Calorie Control Council survey, of the 14% of adults who do not consume low-calorie, reduced-sugar and sugar-free foods and beverages, 38% avoid them because of taste and/or aftertaste.
Clarifying the Claims
According to Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 101, Section 9(c), sugars are defined as “the sum of all free mono- and disaccharides (such as glucose, fructose, lactose and su-crose.” For a “sugar-free” label claim, the finished product would need to contain less than 0.5 grams of sugars (21 CFR 101.60(c) (1) (i)).
In addition—because consumers expect that anything sugar-free must also be lower in calories—the finished product is often labeled either as a “low-calorie” or “reduced-calorie” food. If it is not a “low-calorie” or “reduced-calorie” product, then it requires a statement such as “not a reduced-calorie food,” “not a low-calorie food” or “not for weight control.”
The FDA allows “without added sugar” and “no added sugar” to be used, as well. A good example of a product likely to carry such a label would be caramel, where the milk solids used contain enough naturally occurring lactose (even with all the other sugar and corn syrup removed) to still not meet the requirements for “sugar free.”
For “reduced-sugar” products, FDA allows for a 25% reduction in sugars per reference serving size when compared to that of a full-sugar equivalent (21 CFR 101.60(c) (5) (i)). In addition, the label must include information on the identity of the reference food, the percent or fraction of sugar reduction, and the amount of sugar in a standard or full-sugar product.