Health drive leads to sweetness enhancer for reduced calories
Food and beverage manufacturers have been moving towards healthier formulations on the back of pressure from consumers and public health groups concerned about health conditions such as obesity and diabetes. The main focus has been on reducing sugar, saturated fat and salt, but this has posed problems for manufacturers in retaining consumer taste acceptability.
Comax said that its sweetness extender addresses this issue, allowing for a reduction in calories without a reduction in sweetness in beverage and bakery applications. It said that the new ingredient is part of its Special Effects range which also includes its recently released bitterness masker for stevia-derived sweeteners, acid reduction, and caffeine mask.
Comax Flavors vice president of marketing Catherine Armstrong said: “Repeatedly, consumers want healthier foods and beverages, but they do not want to give up the satisfaction they derive from appealing associations with sugar, salt and fat. Our line of Special Effects flavors addresses this desire.”
The company’s release follows a similar development from GSB Flavor Creators last month, although Comax said that its enhancer is a result of “proprietary technology that was innovated in 1977” when the company was founded. It said that the sweetness enhancer, along with all its Special Effects range, has come about as an expansion of this technology.
Armstrong said: “We have been successful in enhancing mouthfeel and have been able to lower the brix level, an important advantage in fruit and alcoholic beverage formulations.”
Brix is a measurement used to define the sugar to water ratio in a solution, so a brix of 25, for example, would mean 25 grams of sugar in a 100 milliliter solution.
“For customers who are offering beverages and products where reduced levels of HFCS and sugar are desirable, our sweetness enhancer can achieve outstanding results,” Armstrong said.
She added that the flavor can sweeten while reducing calories to half of those found in sugar with no aftertaste.
“It is virtually colorless and aroma free,” she said.
