Life is still sweet, even with less sugar – how to create tomorrow’s

sugar-reduced food experiences

By Guillaume Blancher, Global Product Manager for Sweet Taste, Givaudan

With an increased focus on health and wellbeing from consumers, post COVID-19, and ongoing public health concerns around sugar over consumption, one of the major challenges facing food manufacturers today is sugar reduction.

A recent publication by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Food Agriculture Organization (OECD-FAO), states that although per capita sugar consumption in developed countries is on the decline, on average individuals still consumed 32.4 kg per year or about 89 grams per person per day from 2017-2019.[1] This far exceeds maximum recommendations from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), which recommend no more than 50g/day for a 2,000-kCal diet, or 10% of total energy intake from added sugar.[2]

But it isn’t just in western cultures that sugar is an issue. In many developing countries, although the per capita consumption of sugar is far lower currently, it is projected to grow considerably. In fact, the OECD predicts that average global sugar consumption per capita will continue growing until 2029, driven entirely by developing countries.

Public bodies such as the WHO and many governments around the world have recognised the need for public health measures to help reduce the overconsumption of sugar. These take different forms depending on the location: from sugar taxes in some countries, for example the UK, to front-of-pack labelling such as Nutriscore in Europe (Singapore just adopted a similar system recently), to the “added sugar” labelling on the nutritional facts panel in the US.

As a result, many manufacturers are having to reformulate products to meet government measures and public health recommendations along with ever changing consumer attitudes.

Consumer insights

Thanks in part to the measures taken by governments and organisations, consumers themselves are increasingly aware of the dangers of overconsumption. Generally, consumers are becoming increasingly more health conscious and focused on weight management, driving lower consumption of sugary products.

This shift in consumer focus to overall wellbeing means that the need for sugar reduction is not only a lasting trend, but also one that is likely to intensify. Givaudan’s trends programme, FlavourVision® has been monitoring how health, identity, and enjoyment are translated into eating and drinking experiences around the world. Of the seven major trends tracked by FlavourVision®, three are particularly relevant to understanding consumers’ motivations around sugar reduction; these are “Layered Wellness”, “DelightFULL” and “Risk Aware”.

The “Layered Wellness” trend addresses all aspects of wellbeing. As we have seen during the pandemic, the focus on holistic and proactive wellness has become a mainstay in people’s approach to health and reducing sugar plays strongly into this trend.

The “DelightFULL” trend has continued, particularly as indulging in delicious foods can provide a much-needed means of escape during difficult times. When it comes to sugar reduction, this trend underlines the importance of ensuring that sugar-reduced foods still maintain their indulgent appeal in the eye of the consumer.

Finally, the “Risk Aware” trend has become more pronounced in recent years, pushing the demand for food safety, but also creating calls for transparency and clean label ingredients. For sugar reduction, this has meant increasing distrust of artificial sweeteners and the need for balancing taste profiles while reducing sugar. As a result, natural, clean label sugar reduction solutions such as Stevia and Monk Fruit are gaining in popularity.

Consumer behaviours

Consumers’ responses to the need for sugar reduction may take different forms. Added sugars in particular have come into the line of fire as consumers actively attempt to reduce their consumption of carbohydrates. This is even truer for beverages, which are often criticised for adding “empty calories” and are the most impacted by sugar reduction to date, but other categories such as dairy alternatives and cereals are catching up.

There is a renewed interest in novel sweeteners, with the arrival of novel natural ingredients like brazzein, a natural protein with sweet properties. The development of reduced or no-added sugar products goes hand in hand with innovations in sweeteners, beginning with artificial high intensity sweeteners (HIS) like aspartame and has recently expanded to formulations with natural sweeteners like Stevia and Monk Fruit.

While consumers are eager to reduce their sugar intake, the taste of these sweeteners often doesn’t live up to expectations. Over the years, new sweeteners have seen their sensory properties improve, but they still cannot replicate the flavour profile of real sugar. Given these trends, manufacturers are under pressure to rethink their recipes so that the products offered contain less sugar, presenting many new opportunities for sweeteners and new product formulations to meet consumers’ holistic wellness goals. The beverages category in particular is poised for growth and innovation, with beverages being the number one target when it comes to sugar reduction.

Consumer acceptance of sweeteners

While consumers are seeking a healthier lifestyle that includes reducing their sugar intake, their perception of alternative sweeteners varies considerably. Globally, consumers have a positive sentiment towards natural high-calorie sweeteners such as honey, fruit juices and maple syrup. However, they are increasingly avoiding artificial high intensity sweeteners such as cyclamate, acesulfame K, aspartame, sucralose and saccharin. Their overall wariness of artificial, low-calorie sweeteners highlights the need for balancing the taste profiles of sugar-reduced products without resorting to artificial sweeteners.[3]

Innovation in sugar reduction

Rebuilding a full taste experience in sugar- reduced food and beverages requires expert craftsmanship. And it’s no longer just about exactly matching the full sugar experience as many consumers are looking for less sweet yet great tasting products.

From modulating the taste of high intensity sweeteners in food and beverages, transitioning from one sweetener to another, or completely redesigning product profiles for exciting and novel food experiences, Givaudan’s expertise covers the full range of reformulation options.

With a focus on maintaining the indulgent quality of sweet products with natural solutions that allow for the clean labelling consumers are increasingly demanding, Givaudan offers two approaches which both include a wide array of proprietary and differentiated high-performance flavour solutions. TasteSolutions® Sweetness helps rebuild the taste experience in sugar-reduced products while maintaining the product’s signature. Nutri TasteSolutions® Sugar helps our customers develop their low or no sugar products and products containing added protein and fibre without compromising the taste.

Modulating high intensity sweeteners

When it comes to sugar reduction in beverages, there has been a sharp rise in hybrid products, which have a reduced sugar content and contain HIS. The positioning for no-added sugar beverages, namely the diet carbonated soft drinks, is also changing. Diet carbonated soft drinks are declining largely due to their positioning as a diet drink, which feels restrictive. On the contrary, no added sugar or zero sugar carbonated soft drinks are seen in a more positive light and are on the rise.[4]

All these products rely on high intensity sweeteners. It is a very dynamic sector with more HIS coming on the market each year. All HIS strive for the same characteristics: a natural positioning, low cost in use, an abundant supply, great consumer appeal and, of course, a taste like sugar.

To date, no high intensity sweetener tastes exactly like sugar. They all have “defects” such as a delayed onset, lingering sweetness, or a licorice aftertaste. All these are distractions for consumers, who can tell these materials don’t taste quite like sugar. This means the modulation of the sensory profile of high intensity sweeteners remains a major challenge for meeting sugar reduction targets.

Givaudan’s application teams employ a three-pronged approach to modulate the flavour properties of HIS. Leveraging a wide palette of flavour solutions, the teams focus first on correcting the delayed onset of sweetness, making it more upfront. They then move to masking the off notes that become dominant over time, and finally they work to reduce lingering sweetness.

In addition to meeting the technical challenges of formulating great-tasting sugar- reduced products, maintaining a clean label has never been more important. A wide range of natural flavour solutions is needed to meet the demands of consumers and the ingredients must be compliant with various regulations around the world. While Givaudan is able to provide these natural solutions, there are only a few sources of natural HIS on the market today. At the moment, thaumatin is the only known natural sweet protein that is commercially available. Thaumatin is offered by Givaudan under the Talin® brand.

AI and sugar reduction

New technology is also playing an increasing role in the food industry. From sophisticated digital technologies to Artificial Intelligence and science-based product profiling, new technologies and capabilities are reshaping the way we formulate products.

Artificial Intelligence solutions can be used to optimise food and flavour formulation and facilitate co-creation and collaboration with customers, minimising trial and error in the process. Givaudan’s recently launched Advanced Tools for Modelling (ATOM) is one such example. The AI tool identifies positive and negative flavour drivers and explores flavour ingredient synergies. ATOM can be used to work on complex product formulas, helping to assess the contribution and synergies between various types of ingredients to optimise the aroma, sweet taste, texture, colour and nutrition.

ATOM shows great promise in sugar reduction and has been successfully used in a number of projects to optimise the blend of natural sweeteners. For example, ATOM has been used to reduce salt and sugar in a ketchup formulation to boost nutritional appeal without altering taste. Using ATOM, Givaudan’s formulation experts were able to reduce salt by 40% and sugar by 28% while ensuring the difference in taste was unnoticeable to consumers.

Working in combination, digital tools can facilitate the entire development process. For example, ATOM can be paired with Givaudan’s VAS (Virtual Aroma Synthesiser) technology, a digital aroma dispensing device, to get the best out of AI and digital technologies for rapid prototyping and screening sessions that increase agility and shorten time to market.

Holistic profiling

As consumers scrutinise labels and seek out products with less added sugar, but tend to reject artificial sweeteners, a clear need has emerged for rethinking product taste profiles entirely. The goal is to give consumers the same satisfaction, but this can sometimes be achieved with an entirely different formulation.

Givaudan’s proprietary Holistic Profiling captures the consumer perspective by examining the food or beverage experience as a whole. Rather than focusing on the intensities of individual product attributes, Holistic Profiling is designed to model the overall product experience. Accordingly, holistic “attributes” align with key factors that influence a consumer’s perception of a food or beverage – impact, complexity, balanced, integrated and longevity.

These five holistic attributes collectively define the overall sensory experience. The Overall Holistic Rating (OHR) is calculated from panel scores of the holistic attributes. It reflects a general rating for the consumer perception of the product. The technique has been successfully used to achieve substantial levels of sugar replacement (50%), using only natural flavours. In that particular case, no HIS was needed. When replacing large amounts of sugar, the expectation is no longer to match a given sweet intensity.

This is where Holistic Profiling and Complete Flavour Design can help, not by replacing the sugar experience, but by creating a new product that is equally or better liked than the full sugar version. The end product and full sugar product will have identical OHRs, even though they taste different. Sugar reduction remains a pressing issue for food and beverage manufacturers but we at Givaudan believe we have the range of expertise and techniques that can keep life sweet – but with less sugar.

For more information visit: https://www.givaudan.com/taste-wellbeing/market-drivers/sugar-reduction

References:

1 OECD/FAO (2020), OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2020-2029, OECD Publishing, Paris/FAO, Rome, https://doi.org/10.1787/1112c23b-en.

2 World Health Organization (2015). Guideline: sugars intake for adults and children. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241549028

3 HealthFocus® International 2020 Global Topic Report

4 https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/14/business-food/diet-soda-zero-sugar/ index.html