A shift on the horizon for sweeteners.

In the sweetener business, the focus is shifting to blends of two or more high-intensity sweeteners to get the most desirable result, such as intensity and duration of sweetness, taste, and stability to heat and acids. Product competition among high-intensity sweeteners is likely to increase because of the prospect of new entries, such as sucralose and alitame.

Sweetener products generally have long life expectancies unless a health risk is determined. A high degree of product differentiation exists for specialty sweeteners due to product-specific flavor profiles and other functional properties. New products require high levels of technical sales support and service. Once the product is accepted, however, technical service becomes less of an issue.

With an increasing variety of products, product synergy is becoming important. With some sweetener blends, volume can be decreased by about one-third while still maintaining a sweetness level. New markets and applications are dependent on regulatory approvals. High regulatory registration and approval costs represent formidable barriers for the near-term introduction of new products.

The approval of Acesulfame-K in the United States for use in soft drinks could induce a major change in the diet soft drink segment, which represents an overwhelming market for high-intensity sweeteners. A blend of Acesulfame-K and aspartame is already used in carbonated beverages in Europe and Canada.

The U.S. approval of alitame, which is already approved outside the United States, will not affect the soft drink industry because alitame is reportedly not compatible with caramel, reducing sugars and carbohydrates with aldehyde end-groups. However, alitame can form a synergistic mixture with cyclamate, Acesulfame-K and aspartame sweeteners in frozen novelties, confectioneries and sweet baked goods.

Polyols are currently used mainly in sugar-free confections. Recent approval of low-calorie claims will make them attractive for new applications. However, labeling changes that would not allow sugar-free claims may lead to a decline in the use of these sweeteners. Future use of high-intensity sweeteners in nonliquid food products will depend largely on the availability of effective, low-density bulking agents. Erythritol and lactitol have been approved in the United States. These polyols offer a low caloric value (0.4 and 2.0 Kcal/gm, respectively) and may be effective as low-calorie bulking agents.

Oligosaccharides appear to have health-related activity, including an acceleration of calcium uptake, cholesterol removal and an anticancer function. These may create a growth opportunity for the substances in the near future.

Further information. Laszlo Somogyi, 12 Highgate Court, Kensington, CA 94707; phone: [phone]; fax: [phone]; email: [e-mail].