Diet trends and health concerns come and go, but they can have a major effect on food brands while they last. Currently, sugar reduction has the spotlight among health officials and consumers alike.
Several municipalities across the country have introduced taxes on soda and sugary drinks, largely with the aim of reducing consumption of added sugars. Additionally, recent FDA updates to the nutrition label require brands to disclose added sugars.
The taxes and labeling changes position sugar consumption as a significant health problem, and consumers largely seem to agree. Consider the following data from recent surveys:
-
84% of adults in the US report limiting their sugar consumption
-
51% of consumers say a healthy diet should be low in sugar
-
81% of consumers check food and drink labels for the amount of sugar
-
76% of consumers buy items labeled low, no, or reduced sugar
-
63% of consumers purchase food and drink with natural sugar substitutes (e.g. monk fruit, stevia)
These figures suggest that brands need to be developing more applications using alternative sweeteners to reduce or eliminate conventional added sugars. Though sugar reduction may be a health trend, legislative shifts and the intensity of consumer feeling in this regard should
maintain the need for solutions well into the future. Here are some tips to keep in mind while considering natural sweeteners like Carolina Innovative Food Ingredients’ sweet potato-based sweetener, Carolina Sweet.
1. Start with the ingredient legend
Consumers are increasingly expecting ingredient lists to be shorter, so formulators are looking for opportunities to displace multiple ingredients. Multi-faceted ingredients such as Carolina Sweet offer flavor, color, and functional benefits that permit a reduction in other ingredients such as brown sugar or artificial colors and flavors.
In addition, many conventional sweeteners have fallen out of favor with today’s savvy consumer, such as high fructose corn syrup. As more and more food and beverage formulators look to replace this ingredient, Carolina Sweet is a trendy alternative.
2. Experiment to understand functional benefits and limitations
It’s difficult to truly grasp the potential benefits of an ingredient without working directly with it. Experimentation also helps uncover any limitations of the ingredient. Many natural sweetener suppliers will provide samples to formulators interested in their products.
For brands open to formulation experimentation, Carolina Sweet’s natural color, flavor, and textural properties support cleaner labels. It also naturally adds consistency to applications, allowing for the reduction or elimination of thickeners like xanthan gum and modified corn starch.
3. Consider the source
Part of the appeal of nontraditional sweeteners is the potential to integrate familiar natural ingredients into applications. Consumers are comforted by seeing ingredients they recognize—such as sweet potatoes or honey—on ingredient lists.
Sourced from a consistent supply of USA-grown sweet potatoes, Carolina Sweet gives formulators the opportunity to incorporate this “superfood” into their applications. According to a study conducted by North Carolina State University, more than 95 percent of consumers see sweet potato as a healthy ingredient. Formulators that can find innovative methods to integrate these trendy, healthy ingredients into their applications will likely be rewarded with consumer loyalty.
4. Evaluate the nutritional profile
When working with nontraditional sweeteners, formulators must consider the health attributes of different options. To see how Carolina Sweet’s nutritional attributes compare to those of several other leading natural and alternative sweeteners, download CIFI’s white paper. Among other findings, Carolina Sweet tested higher than the other sweeteners in overall mineral content.
In addition to Carolina Sweet, CIFI offers a wide variety of sweet potato-based concentrates, syrups, and dehydrated ingredients in a variety of colors, acidities, and pack sizes. To learn more about Carolina Sweet or any of CIFI’s other ingredients, visit cifingredients.com or email [email protected].