Allulose

Low Calorie Sugar

Embracing Change in the Food Industry: New Ingredients Reflect Emerging Nutrition Science

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It’s often said that the only constant in life is change, and this holds especially true for the food industry. In fact, sources predict more industry changes over the next 10 years than seen over the last 50. With a growing global population facing diet-related health problems and increased investments in new technologies to deliver products that deliver both great taste and nutritional benefits, this forecast is no surprise.

The Growing Influence of Nutrition Science

Nutrition science is continuously evolving.  New developments in research allow experts to study dietary interventions and evaluate outcomes with more conciseness and accuracy than ever before. As researchers can attest, the first vitamin was isolated and chemically defined in 1926 – less than 100 years ago!

Evaluation of nutrition’s role in complex diseases such as diabetes and obesity did not accelerate considerably until after 2000. This is why the World Health Organization (WHO) has only recently published guidelines on sugar intake for adults and children, recommending reducing added sugar intake to be less than 10% of total intake. These recommendations are based on evidence showing that such a reduction could help lower the risk of overweight conditions, obesity, and tooth decay.

As WHO and other global scientific and regulatory bodies consider new guidelines based on emerging nutrition science, the food industry is quickly mobilizing to leverage advancements in food science and develop products that align with modern dietary guidelines while simultaneously meeting consumer demands. Today’s businesses are also equipped with clear labeling requirement guidelines from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which the industry predicts will generate a massive surge of interest amongst formulators looking to reduce or replace sugar in a variety of products.

A Newer Entrant in the Alternative Sweetener Category

A current example of an industry innovation designed to align with new nutrition science is the discovery and application of allulose. Chemically classified as a carbohydrate, allulose is considered a “rare sugar” – a sugar that occurs in very small quantities in nature. Allulose delivers approximately 70% of the sweetness and almost identical taste and the technical attributes of sucrose (sugar) in baked goods, frozen desserts, beverages, and other products.

The difference is that allulose does not impact blood glucose levels, only contributing a mere 0.4 calories per gram. The FDA corroborated this in its recent guidance on allulose labeling, stating: “Due to advances in food technology, novel sugars are now available that are not metabolized and that do not contribute 4 kcal/g to the diet like other traditional sugars. Consequently, we need to consider how information about sugars, like allulose, should be captured on the label.”

Allulose is Exempt from U.S. FDA Sugar Labeling Requirements

The FDA also addressed the importance of considering additional factors beyond chemical composition, stating: “We should consider not only the chemical structure of sugars, but also other evidence including their association with dental caries, their effect on blood glucose and insulin levels, as well as their caloric contribution…” As a reflection of the FDA’s flexible and science-based approach to labeling for enhanced consumer understanding, allulose is exempt from the Total or Added Sugar listing on the Nutrition Facts label. A value of 0.4 kcal/g may be used to calculate its caloric contribution.

In 2012 and 2014, in response to two Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) notifications, the FDA stated that they had no questions regarding the conclusion that allulose is generally recognized as safe for use as a general purpose sweetener in foods and beverages where sugar or fructose would typically be used. (GRAS notifications: 400 and 498.) As allulose has an established history of safe use major companies have been formulating with the sweetener while asking the FDA for clarification on how it should be labeled.

Using Allulose in Formulations  

In addition to allulose’s ability to lower the calories, sugar content, and glycemic impact of products, a key benefit is its versatility. Allulose works well in everything from baked goods and confectioneries to yogurt and ice cream. It’s additionally considered a great blending sweetener, and can be combined with other sweeteners such as stevia to achieve the manufacturer’s intended effect.

Initial sales of low-carb cereal Magic Spoon have exceeded expectations – Food Navigator

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Sales of new keto-friendly cereal Magic Spoon have exceeded expectations, say founders Gabi Lewis and Greg Sewitz, who claim to have sold “far more than we projected even in our most aggressive projections,” in the first three months.

Magic Spoon is sweetened with allulose, which founder Gabi Lewis notes “tastes great but has no impact on blood sugar.”

He adds: “We’re also finding that parents are emailing us that their kids love it, so at some point in the future if we decide that children are a more immediate target audience, we’ll probably develop a brand that’s more specifically targeted at children, and maybe even tweak the product to be more suited to children as well.”

Keep reading

FDA Exempts Allulose from Added Sugar Labeling Requirements

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April 17, 2019 — For the first time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is allowing an ingredient  chemically classified as a “sugar” to not be labeled as part of the Total or Added Sugars listings on Nutrition Facts labels. In draft guidance published in April 2019, FDA announced that the low-calorie sweetener allulose does not need to be counted towards the amount of “Total Sugars” or “Added Sugars” on the new Nutrition Facts labels coming into effect January 2020 which require companies to separately list “Added Sugars” under the “Total Sugars” listed – among other changes.

Allulose is considered a “rare sugar” due to its presence in nature in very small quantities and its chemical makeup as a monosaccharide. While allulose provides the same sweet taste, texture, and other technical attributes as table sugar, it is not metabolized as energy in the body. Therefore, it provides a negligible amount of calories and does not impact blood glucose levels, thus qualifying allulose as a low-calorie sweetener. Although allulose was discovered in small amounts in nature and fruits such as figs, raisins, maple syrup and jackfruit, it can also be made from fructose as well as corn to support production scale. This is especially critical given the broad scope of applications – from sweetening baked goods while enhancing browning and crumb structure, to replacing sugar in ice cream but remaining stable in freezing conditions – and subsequent predicted demand for allulose.

The demonstrated benefits of allulose in tandem with FDA’s draft guidance on allulose labeling should help alleviate consumer confusion about the emerging sweetener and clear the runway for industry innovation. “As manufacturers considered reformulating or innovating new products in advance of the January 2020 compliance deadline for the new Nutrition Facts labels, there was confusion among industry and consumers over how to interpret the labels of products containing allulose,” remarked Robert Rankin, president of the Calorie Control Council. “Consumers looking to manage or reduce intake of Total and Added Sugars can now be assured that allulose does not count toward those listings.”

The FDA has made several major updates to the nutrition label, including changes to the nutrients that must be declared. Now, “Added Sugars” must be included separately as a subset of “Total Sugars”. According to the FDA, “Added Sugars” include “sugars that are either added during the processing of foods, or are packaged as such (e.g., a bag of table sugar), and also includes sugars from syrups and honey, and sugars from concentrated fruit or vegetable juices.” However, since allulose does not significantly impact glycemic responses, contributes far less than 4 kcal/g, and does not promote dental caries like other sugars might, FDA intends to exercise enforcement discretion with respect to the exclusion of Total Sugars and Added Sugars, including the % Daily Value (DV) declaration.

To learn more about the FDA guidance, read:

To learn more about allulose, read these sections of Allulose.org:

Rare Sugars: Demystifying Diamonds in the Rough

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You’ve heard terms like “raw” and “natural” to describe low calorie sweeteners, but what about “rare”? As the name suggests, rare sugars are found only in small quantities in nature. This explains why you may not have heard much about them, and why you haven’t seen rare sugars like allulose in the baking aisle or in colored packets on restaurant tabletops.

Though classified as a rare sugar, you may have eaten allulose for years without knowing it, as it can be found in certain fruits also available in the produce section of your grocery store. Like other rare sugars, allulose is a monosaccharide. The prefix “mono” meaning “one,” monosaccharides are the most basic type of sugar and cannot be broken down any further. Therefore, they have coined the term “simple sugar.” However, unlike most simple sugars, allulose is not recognized by the body as a carbohydrate and is not metabolized as energy. Therefore, it has a negligible amount of calories, unlike table sugar (and that also makes it a rare find). Other common monosaccharides you may have already heard of include fructose, the most common sugar in fruit, or glucose, a common sugar in foods and the form that your body uses for energy.

Allulose is one type of rare sugar that has been well-studied and regulators have also evaluated the use of allulose in consumer food products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has granted allulose “GRAS” status, meaning it is “Generally Recognized As Safe” to use as an ingredient in food under its intended conditions of use in foods and beverages. Other common “GRAS” ingredients include household items like salt and table sugar. For more about the GRAS status, visit the FDA site filings here 400 and here 498.

Though food labels are intended to inform consumers about the contents and characteristics of the product, unfamiliar items on ingredient lists can sometimes intimidate rather than educate. This may be the case with allulose. The common name “Allulose” is used interchangeably with its chemical formula as well as other scientific names Psicose, or, more specifically, D-Allulose or D-Psicose.  All four names refer to the same simple sugar and you can look for all of these terms as you look for foods that contain allulose. While fruits and vegetables may not have an ingredient label, common ones that contain allulose include raisins, figs, molasses, and maple syrup.

 

Sources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3830479/

https://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/NoticeInventory/ucm406210.html

Reformulating Products with Allulose – Considerations for Flavor Profile, Freezing and Stability, and Sweetener Compatibility

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This article marks the second of two articles on various properties of allulose that can help food technologists as they consider reformulation opportunities to replace caloric sweeteners with low-calorie sugar allulose.

Allulose is a low-calorie, “rare” sugar (about 0.2 calories per gram) which can be found naturally in fruits, such as figs and raisins, as well as vegetables and other plants. Allulose is also about 70% as sweet as sucrose and has very good synergy with high-potency sweeteners, so it functions well when combined with these sweeteners. Additionally, allulose has similar taste profile sucrose and has similar functionality when reformulating food products for calorie reduction.

When reformulating products with allulose, several key considerations should be taken into account to achieve best results. Below is further information on four characteristics for consideration during reformulation: flavor profile, freezing, stability and sweetener compatibility.

Flavor Profile
Allulose can be used to build up the flavor profile of a product, especially since it has a similar taste to sucrose, giving it a “clean sweetness.” Further, it has a more up front sweetness compared to high-potency sweeteners, so it works well in blends with these sweeteners in products. Additionally, allulose does not have any “off flavors” or bitterness, making it ideal to create the flavor profile of the product. Allulose also does not have a cooling effect so can be beneficial if manufacturers do not want this effect in the final product.

Freezing Point
As a monosaccharide, allulose significantly depresses the freezing point of frozen products. Similar to fructose and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), it is stable during freezing conditions, so can be used very successfully in frozen products, such as frozen desserts and ice cream. In fact, sensory testing with ice cream made with allulose versus sucrose demonstrates similar acceptance for taste. Further, both products had similar “meltdowns,” demonstrating the similar characteristics between products made with sucrose versus allulose.

Stability
The melting point of allulose is about 110°C, similar to other sugars such as fructose. Therefore, if melting point is a critical factor in processing, allulose could be considered to replace fructose or HFCS to help cut calories in the product. Allulose is stable in a variety of different food product formulations and under different processing conditions. Allulose has good stability at higher temperatures, meaning it can be ideal in applications such as baked goods.

In low pH systems, such as acidic beverages, allulose has good processing stability even under high temperature processing conditions.

Sweetener Compatibility
Allulose is a great candidate for “sweetness synergy,” meaning that when used with other sweeteners, the blend results in a sweetness potency higher than that of the individual sweeteners. Allulose works well when combined with high-potency sweeteners, such as sucralose and stevia. It also has a similar temporal profile as sucrose, meaning the onset and dissipation of sweetness is comparable. Further, when combined with high-potency sweeteners, the temporal profile is closer to sucrose than the individual high-potency sweetener alone. Blending with high-potency sweeteners may be desirable to achieve a product’s nutrition and cost targets.

As mentioned, allulose is a great option for replacing sucrose and other caloric sweeteners in a variety of products, including beverages, frozen dairy products, baked goods, sauces and syrups, candies, jams and jellies, salad dressings and chewing gum. Allulose can provide a taste similar to sucrose with similar bulking, mouthfeel and sweetening properties. Additionally, allulose has fewer calories and does not impact glycemic response.

As food technologists and R&D professionals contemplate sugar and calorie reduction for their products in response to consumer preferences and trends, replacement with allulose should be considered. And if there is interest in allulose, professionals should get a sample. For more information on allulose manufacturers, contact the Calorie Control Council via our Contact Us page.

Read the first article here.