Consumer confusion over how best to reduce sugar in one’s diet persists. Are they still looking for ‘zero added sugar’ in sweet drinks? Regulatory and ingredients experts weigh in.
Consistent branding and values can create a stronger business over time compared to chasing trends or copying the competition, which can dilute a brand's long-term impact, according to Zevia CEO Amy Taylor.
As consumers become increasingly wary of sugar content, CPG companies are meeting the demand for zero-sugar products with the help of natural sweeteners, a trend set to gain momentum in the US as regulators and scientists push for reductions.
The influence of non-GMO claims on purchase intent is declining, while claims such as “no artificial ingredients,” “natural flavors” and “no added sugar” are more impactful, Carla Saunders, senior marketing manager, Cargill, explained to FoodNavigator-USA.
Monk fruit has gained popularity as a natural sweetener, and is poised for growth alongside natural and better-for-you trends as consumers and brands reduce sugar across categories, Monk Fruit Corp.'s GM David Thorrold told FoodNavigator-USA.
As consumers increasingly demand low and no-sugar products, CPG brands are responding to food and beverage development with an array of natural and artificial non-nutritive sweeteners, which have been the focus of several health studies this year, Thom...
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a new guideline on non-sugar sweeteners (NSS), which recommends against the use of NSS to control body weight or reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).
Similar to previous partnerships between SweetLeaf and the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the collaboration intends to bring more visibility towards diabetes risk and management and provide actionable ways for people with diabetes to improve their...
Natural soda brand Zevia is sweetening its branding with a new look as it aims to boost its household penetration and eliminate plastic from its supply chain, company CEO Amy Taylor told FoodNavigator-USA.
Production of steviol glycosides extracted from stevia grown in Europe produces just 10% of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with sugar production, according a life cycle assessment.
European industrial biotechnology specialist BRAIN Biotech has teamed up with Bonumose to bring the rare sugars expert’s sweetener tagatose to market globally.
HOWTIAN has grown stevia plants with up to a 12% average Reb A yield this season, the “highest ever in the industry,” says the firm, which described the news as a “milestone not just for the company, but for the food and beverage industry at large, as...
A new study – published a month after the World Health Organization (WHO) sounded a cautionary note about the long-term effects of zero-calorie sweeteners such as sucralose and saccharin – suggests some diet sweeteners are not inert and can alter the...
In the face of an unrelenting inflationary environment, zero sugar soda brand Zevia is reporting continued growth and consumer adoption of its products, especially in the club channel.
What’s more sustainable? Using acres of land, water and energy to grow plants that produce minuscule quantities of natural sweeteners; or making them via a fermentation process using a microbe that’s been engineered to produce exactly the same molecules?
According to a new draft guideline from the World Health Organization (WHO), non-nutritive sweetener consumption is associated with metabolic syndrome, something proponents of diet sweeteners say shows correlation, not causation, and merely reflects the...
In the hierarchy of nutrition labeling, over half of consumers (58%) say they check total and added sugar content followed by the type of sweetener (52%) used in a product, claims Cargill.
From more efficient production of rare sugars tagatose and allulose (and intriguing new possibilities with D-allose), to ‘enhanced’ sugars, and a mystery disaccharide that behaves like sugar, but is metabolized very differently, check out part one of...
Zero-sugar stevia-sweetened soda brand Zevia has appointed its current president of the company, Amy Taylor, as its new CEO succeeding Paddy Spence who will remain as chair of the company's board of directors, effective August 1, 2022.
A court has found in Sweegen’s favor following a four-year legal battle with rival PureCircle over IP relating to the manufacture of stevia sweetener Reb M.
Three years since first debuting its ClearFlo modifying ingredient technology used to reduce sensory off notes of stevia, Cargill is debuting a single solution and combination of the two: EverSweet stevia + ClearFlo, giving food and beverage manufacturers...
In the race to bring the high intensity sweetener brazzein to market at commercial scale, taste solution provider Sweegen is claiming first place today with the launch of Ultratia, which the company says is a key tool in improving the health profile of...
Two new sweetness modulators from Icon Foods promise to smooth out the flavor profiles of popular sugar substitutes that, despite significant advancements, continue to fall short of recreating the flavor of processed sugar – either because they come on...
The adoption of four production technologies for steviol glycosides by the international food standards authority Codex Alimentarius earlier this month opens doors for industry to produce and source at scale and more sustainably less-common versions of...
While a recent probe into Oatly’s accounting practices and a flood of tech money going into food has raised questions about valuations in the space, zero-sugar soda brand Zevia has a solid track record of growth, a clear consumer proposition (great taste,...
Ingredion – already a key player in the stevia sweeteners market through its 2020 deal to acquire PureCircle – has teamed up with synthetic biology specialist Amyris to expand into a new segment of the market: steviol glycosides produced via fermentation.
SweeGen Bestevia Reb B steviol glycoside (stevia sweetener) has received a GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) Letter of No Objection from the FDA for use in food and beverage formulations.
Stevia specialist SweeGen has commercialized Reb N, a lesser-known steviol glycoside “with a unique sensory profile… that makes it especially attractive for beverage applications.”
Tate & Lyle has acquired Washington state-based stevia supplier Sweet Green Fields (SGF), strengthening the global ingredients company’s stevia solutions and capabilities by creating a fully-integrated supply chain along with unified research and...
Stevia specialist SweeGen has started commercial production of Reb I, a lesser-known steviol glycoside “with its own unique and distinct taste” that works well in a wide range of food and beverage applications.
Stevia supplier PureCircle USA says it “strongly refutes” claims from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials that it imported shipments of stevia that had been processed in China with prison labor, but claims it “made financial sense for our...
Foods and beverages sweetened with miraculin, brazzein and curculin - proteins found in exotic fruits that can be produced far more efficiently via microbial fermentation - could hit the US market in less than two years, offering formulators intriguing...
Japanese stevia pioneer Morita Kagaku Kogyo Co has taken the unusual step of issuing a press release highlighting the extent of its intellectual property around sweet tasting steviol glycoside Reb M and naming the three partners to which it has licensed...
Stevia specialist SweeGen has started commercial production of Reb B, a lesser-known and “highly soluble” steviol glycoside (stevia sweetener) that it says works particularly well in beverages.
MycoTechnology – which is building a functional ingredients platform utilizing mycelia, the filament-like roots of mushrooms - has raised $39m in a series D financing round from investors* including plant-based meat specialist Greenleaf Foods to Tyson...
From emergency deliveries of aspartame by airplane to adapting manufacturing plants, sweetener suppliers have been working to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their supply chains.
Global ingredients giant Ingredion has struck a deal to acquire a controlling (75%) stake in stevia supplier PureCircle, which has been going through a period of extreme turbulence in recent months, prompting the suspension of its shares and the installation...
Stevia supplier PureCircle has delayed the publication of its results for the first half of 2020 “in view of the current difficult COVID-19 situation, which has caused some disruption to our working practices,” but belatedly published results for the...
An accounting probe by KPMG has identified "apparent override of controls" by members of senior management at stevia supplier PureCircle that "may have contributed to the historical misstatements" in its financial results going undetected,...
Stevia supplier PureCircle has unveiled a new management team following a probe into accounting irregularities that has delayed the publication of its full-year results and prompted a suspension of its shares.
Avansya - a joint venture between Cargill and DSM - has opened the first commercial-scale facility in the US producing stevia sweeteners via microbial fermentation.
As non nutritive sweeteners are consumed by at least one in four children, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued a policy statement calling for clear labeling and future research into how they affect childrens' health and taste preferences....
HB Natural Ingredients has received a "Letter of No Objection" for its stevia sweetener portfolio, Vitosa, confirming that the FDA has "no questions" regarding the self-affirmed GRAS status of Vitosa.
Global stevia supplier PureCircle has launched a branded gourmet ice cream line sweetened with its next generation stevia sweeteners, which will initially be sold from food trucks throughout Chicago.
Synthetic biology specialist Amyris says it remains confident it can capture 30% of the global stevia sweeteners market by 2022 with purecane, a Reb M sweetener produced from cane sugar by a modified yeast strain, that it claims gives it a competitive...
Stevia-based sweetener company, SweeGen, has received a GRAS no objections letter from the FDA for its non-GMO Bestevia Rebaudioside E ('Reb E') stevia leaf sweetener for use in food and beverage products.
Purecircle has renewed a deal to supply its next generation stevia sweeteners such as Reb M to Merisant, which makes tabletop sweeteners including Canderel and Equal with Stevia; PureVia; and Whole Earth.