I N G R E D I E N T S
NEED SOME HELP TO REDUCE SUGAR?
Food Products Functionality delivered by sugars
Soft drinks Sweetness, mouthfeel, flavour enhancement
Confectionery Sweetness bulk, preservative, humectancy, colour & flavour formation,
solubility, flavour release, crystal and glass formation
Baked Goods Sweetness, bulk, humectancy, colour & flavour formation, texture
modification, coating, glazing, fermentation subbstrate
Dairy Sweetness, mouthfeel, flavour enhancement
Breakfast cereals Sweetness, bulk, colour and flavour formation, texture modification,
structure forming, bowl life
Jams and preserves Sweetness, bulk, flavour enhancement, colour, flavour formation
preservative, synergy with other ingredients
Frozen desserts Sweetness, bulk, flavour enhancement, freezing point depression,
mouthfeel
Throughout the world there is little doubt that
consumers are continuing to demand products
with less sugar, associating it with negative health
consequences such as tooth decay, obesity, high
blood pressure, and diabetes.
This is most evident in social media through
blog posts such as “14 Simple Ways to Stop
Eating Sugar”, “21 Good Reasons to Stop Eating
Sugar” and “Top 10 Best Sugar-free Cookbooks”,
according to food ingredient specialist, Hawkins
Watts.
“Globally, government health departments are
also forcing food manufacturers to do more to
reduce sugar in food and drink through sugar
taxes and consumer education campaigns.
Health professionals in New Zealand are also
demanding taxation to reduce sugar usage,” says
the company.
But - in short - sugar reduction is not going to go
away any time soon.
As food formulators, Hawkins Watts knows that
reducing sugar affects more than just sweetness.
Sugar also plays a functional role in the food
matrix, such as texture (including mouthfeel and
viscosity), colour, flavour delivery, and more.
While natural high intensity sweeteners such as
Stevia and Monk Fruit have offered the promise of
replacing sugar and a clean label solution, one of
the biggest hurdles to overcome has been their
bitter and metallic after taste. Other issues which
need to be addressed are formulation stability,
increased food safety risk and mouthfeel
changes.
Hawkins Watts approaches sugar replacement
holistically, using its formulation expertise with
flavour masking compounds, hydrocolloids,
colour and emulsifiers to re-engineer products
so that they are as close as possible to the
benchmarks and microbiologically safe. “Our
laboratories have all of the food processing
equipment necessary to verify that the new
formulations will work commercially. If your
business is looking to reduce sugar in its
formulations, then we can help.”
www.hawkinswatts.com
Reformulating to
reduce sugar?
We can help.
FTR429
www.foodtechnology.co.nz 53
/www.hawkinswatts.com
/www.foodtechnology.co.nz
