Abstract

The market for sweeteners is estimated to grow at about 8.3 percent per year up to 2008. (1) This growth is fueled in large part by rising health concerns about diet and obesity.  The sweetener industry is composed of a complex and sometimes confusing array of nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners, which includes lower intensity sweeteners and very high intensity sweeteners.  Besides the traditional carbohydrate sweeteners – sucrose, glucose, fructose, honey and molasses – there are sugar alcohols, new sugars, such as tagatose and isomaltulose, and at least one new very high intensity sweetener, Neotame, 8000 times sweeter than sucrose.  To complicate matters more, some of the sweeteners go by several names or have brand names.  Some of the newer sweeteners also have additional functions as pre-biotics or as food fiber.  The latest trend in sweeteners is the production of blends, combinations of nutritive and non-nutritive sweetener ingredients designed to produce the desired sweet taste with fewer calories or slower digestibility and other functionalities.  This paper provides an overview of the different types of approved sweeteners on the market, their relative sweetness and  functionality, and will discuss some of the new commercial blends.

Mention of trade names and commercial products in this article is solely for the purpose of providing information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by Sugar Processing Research Institute, Inc.

Introduction

Consumers remain generally positive toward sugar, and either have a fairly negative view of (artificial) sweeteners, or are concerned that they don’t understand enough about them to assess the long-term health implications, particularly for their children, of using them. (2)  Nevertheless, there is a growing market for non-sucrose sweeteners.  Obesity trends have increased product development efforts to replace caloric bulk sweeteners with alternative sweetening systems without changing the full sensory experience of sweetness and mouthfeel.

Types of Sweeteners

Sweeteners can be categorized in a number of ways: (1) by structure, as carbohydrates or non-carbohydrates; (3) by degree of sweetness, e.g.,  high-intensity or low intensity; or (4) by calorie count, e.g., caloric, reduced calorie, or non-caloric. 

Sucrose has always been considered the “gold standard” of sweeteners and all sweetener ingredients are compared to sucrose in terms of its sweetness, bulking properties and other functional qualities.  The sweetness of sucrose is set as 1.00.  Sucrose has five structural isomers, four of which have been commercialized to one degree or another.  Table 1 lists the sucrose isomers.

Table 1.  The structural isomers of sucrose.

* Merck Index, Twelfth Edition, 1997

Polyols / Sugar Alcohols

Polyols are a category of bulk nutritive sweeteners known as sugar alcohols.  Sweetness levels vary from about 0.3 to 1.0, depending on the polyol. Sweetness levels also may vary somewhat depending on their concentration and usage, which explains why a range of sweetness is sometimes listed. Polyols are excluded from the term “sugar” on ingredient labels, so foods containing sugar alcohols can claim to be “sugar free.”  They have fewer calories than sucrose and are slowly absorbed, which means they have little effect on insulin metabolism and can be used by diabetics. Labeling legislation in the European Union requires that all polyols show a caloric value of 2.4 kcal/g,  but other labeling systems (such as U.S.,  Australia and Japan) permit specific caloric values for individual polyols. (3)  When put into solution, they have negative heats of solution, resulting in a cooling effect in the mouth, which may or may not be desirable, depending on the product.  Sugar alcohols may have a laxative effect if eaten in excess, and recommended daily intakes are in place for some. They are generally non-cariogenic (do not cause tooth cavities).  They are highly soluble and non-hygroscopic. The sugar alcohols are non-reducing, temperature stable and more resistant to browning reactions than sucrose, which may or may not be an advantage, depending of the usage. The approved sugar alcohols are: erythritol, isomaltitol (isomalt/Palatinit™), lactitol, maltitol and maltitol syrups, mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol and hydrogenated starch hydrolyzates (HSH).

Read more of this article in the January 2007 issue of Sugar Journal.