This is the question posed by researchers, who also wanted to find out whether swapping out sugar for artificial and natural sweeteners reduces blood sugar levels.
EverSweet, a stevia sweetener made via fermentation rather than stevia leaf extraction, is one step closer to market entry in Europe having received positive safety opinions in the EU and UK.
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.
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.
In the past 12 months, global sugar prices have risen 41.9% and to describe this sharp inflation in sugar prices, analysts have coined a new term: ‘sugarflation’. The current market volatility has also had a knock-on effect for natural alternatives with...
With sugar consumption continuing to increase and public health concerns about rising obesity rates, the sugar reduction trend will become more significant, experts say.
In a post-pandemic world, consumer relationships with sweetness are changing, according to Kerry Group, who in new consumer research reveals that ‘sustainable health’ is the primary motivator for sugar reduction.
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).
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.
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...
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?
Ingredient supplier Sweegen hailed its victory against PureCircle in a stevia Rebaudioside M (Reb M) patent battle as opening the door to ‘major expansion’ opportunities. However, FoodNavigator understands PureCircle owner Ingredion is already preparing...
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...
International food standards body Codex Alimentarius has adopted a Framework for steviol glycosides that encompasses four different production technologies in a move that is expected to ‘benefit the entire stevia industry’.
The sweetener producer claims combining functional ingredients with sugar alternatives can attract a new generation of customers to products that offer guilt-free indulgence and nutritional benefits.
The supplier’s range of stevia ingredients produced through bioconversion of stevia leaf extracts will be commercially available to European food and beverage manufacturers later in 2021.
The European Commission has approved the use of Sweegen’s non-GMO Signature Bestevia Rebaudioside M (Reb M) for use in food and beverages. “We are opening the doors for product developers to explore a new toolkit for sugar reduction across all products...
Ingredient supplier Tate & Lyle has launched a stevia sustainability programme in collaboration with environmental experts Earthwatch Europe. The company says the move will help the fast-growing stevia agri sector leverage sustainable practices as...
Fibre and next-generation stevia are expected to play key roles in sugar reduction as a growing number of manufacturers seek out ‘no added sugar’ claims, according to Mintel.
Meat and dairy are regularly targeted for their environmental impact. In the UK, for example, the government’s Committee on Climate Change has recommended a 20% cut in meat and dairy by 2030, rising to 35% by 2050 for meat only. Sugar may be next, warns...
Tate & Lyle has taken full control of stevia supplier Sweet Green Fields (SGF). Abigail Storms, Global Sweeteners Lead, says the move will create ‘more opportunities to innovate with customers leveraging SGF’s deep technical stevia expertise’.
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.
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 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.
The naturally modified table sugar from Global Biolife, called Laetose, carries 30% fewer calories and about half the glycemic index compared to glucose.
Ingredients supplier Tate & Lyle has partnered with NGO Earthwatch to assess the sustainability of its stevia supply chain, from seedling producers to industrial farms.
Thanks to a patented biostimulation process, Alkion BioInnovations produces sweet-tasting proteins, high-value flavours and plant proteins in a cost-effective way that (for now at least) can be labelled as organic. “This is a real advantage [over] our...
Synthetic biology specialist Amyris has embarked on a mission to capture 30% of the global stevia sweeteners market by 2022 with a Reb M sweetener produced from cane sugar by a modified yeast strain, that it claims gives it a clear competitive advantage...
Cargill and DSM – who have both independently developed steviol glycosides via microbial fermentation – are now teaming up in a bid to accelerate their development under the Eversweet brand.
The demand for healthy and natural products has led to the adoption of plant-based sweeteners such as stevia and monk fruit, with these natural sweeteners offering 200 to 300 times the sweetening power of processed sugar. In this guest article, Ravi Chawat...
Swiss biotech company Evolva has said that it will focus on ramping up low cost bio-production routes that it believes will be “game changers” for “existing commercially available ingredients that are currently hard-to-source from nature”.
Over the next three years, PureCircle is rolling out the “next generation” of stevia leaf that, it says, represents an even more effective sugar replacement. The investment supports the company’s drive to strengthen its product mix and move away from...
Stevia manufacturer PureCircle is launching the Sigma X-celerator, a new tool that aims to deliver customised ingredient combinations to its food and beverage customers.
Chinese supplier Guilin Layn Natural Ingredients wants to be the first firm to sell monk fruit in Europe, and has submitted a request for a scientific opinion to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Steviol glycosides remain unaffected by commercial processes that involve the extraction and purification of this natural sweetener used to reduce calorie content in popular beverages.
DSM is seeking approval to sell fermented stevia in Europe. We caught up with the director of its stevia platform to discuss how it could be labelled, consumer acceptance and when it expects EFSA to give the green light.
To many consumers, ‘processed food’ is just another term for ‘junk food.’ It’s hard to define, but we know it when we see it (Twinkies). But do we know a ‘highly processed’ ingredient when we see it, and how much processing is too much? Elaine Watson...
Swedish supplier The Real Stevia Company will open a processing plant in the sweetener's native Paraguay, adding to its portfolio an 'origin' stevia that is sustainably sourced and Paraguayan from farm to fork.
Today’s health conscious consumers put great emphasis on natural and low calorie: opening up more and more opportunities for stevia, particularly in beverages. But giving consumers confidence will be key to driving stevia's continued growth, according...
Using traditional plant breeding techniques, PureCircle has developed a stevia plant with 20 times more sweet-tasting steviol glycosides than standard stevia, it says.
PureCircle has requested a safety opinion from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for glucosylated stevia as it hopes to bring the enzymatically modified sweetener to the European market in 2018.
Coca-Cola GB to focus on sugar-free brands and phase out Coca-Cola Life
Coca-Cola Life is to be withdrawn from the UK market from June, although the stevia-sweetened drink will remain on offer in 30 markets including the US.
