May 13, 2014 - Blogs
Sweeteners have long been a topic of confusion. Low-calorie and no-calorie sweeteners in particular have been blamed for weight gain and increased cravings. Although neither notion has been proven, researchers reviewed 35 years of sweetener data to set the record straight, or at least slightly less crooked than it was.
The study, presented at the Experimental Biology 2014 Conference in San Diego, determined using low-calorie sweeteners actually did help people lose weight. And further, consuming products containing low-calorie sweeteners did not lead to weight gain or cravings, they determined.
"The conclusions from this review support decades of research showing that the use of low-calorie sweeteners can be beneficial in weight loss, while also debunking recent hypotheses of weight gain and cravings," said Haley Stevens, Ph.D., president, Calorie Control Council. "Along with proper diet and exercise, consumption of products with low-calorie sweeteners can be part of a healthy lifestyle."
This research comes at a crucial point in the sweetener landscape. FDA’s recent proposal to include “added sugars" to the Nutrition Facts panel (not to mention the release of Katie Couric’s Fed Up documentary) have turned attention to sweeteners, especially nutritive sweeteners. (Check out this infographic for deeper insight into the proposed label change in the Food Product Design FoodTech Toolbox).
Luckily, industry has already been working hard at sugar reduction. Take, for example, product innovations like PepsiCo’s Trop50 brand—a blend of juice and water and sweetened with stevia—which has seen immense success in the United States.
And both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo launched reduced-calorie soft drinks using stevia. Coca-Cola Life—sweetened with a combination of sugar and stevia—was launched in Chile and Argentina in 2013. PepsiCo’s Pepsi Next launched in 2012 in Australia— also sweetened with sugar and stevia and boasting a 30 percent reduction in calories.
Easy peasy, right? Take some sugar out, add some no-calorie sweetener in, and voila! Product success.
Of course, it’s not actually that simple. In the Food Product Design Content Library, “Reducing Added Sugars" dives into the complexities behind sugar reduction—including FDA’s guidelines as to what warrants a “reduced-sugar" claim, what consumers are actually looking for in reduced-sugar foods and beverages and how to replace sugar’s functional benefits (in addition to its taste).
Sweeteners have long been a topic of confusion. Low-calorie and no-calorie sweeteners in particular have been blamed for weight gain and increased cravings. Although neither notion has been proven, researchers reviewed 35 years of sweetener data to set the record straight, or at least slightly less crooked than it was.
The study, presented at the Experimental Biology 2014 Conference in San Diego, determined using low-calorie sweeteners actually did help people lose weight. And further, consuming products containing low-calorie sweeteners did not lead to weight gain or cravings, they determined.
"The conclusions from this review support decades of research showing that the use of low-calorie sweeteners can be beneficial in weight loss, while also debunking recent hypotheses of weight gain and cravings," said Haley Stevens, Ph.D., president, Calorie Control Council. "Along with proper diet and exercise, consumption of products with low-calorie sweeteners can be part of a healthy lifestyle."
This research comes at a crucial point in the sweetener landscape. FDA’s recent proposal to include “added sugars" to the Nutrition Facts panel (not to mention the release of Katie Couric’s Fed Up documentary) have turned attention to sweeteners, especially nutritive sweeteners. (Check out this infographic for deeper insight into the proposed label change in the Food Product Design FoodTech Toolbox).
Luckily, industry has already been working hard at sugar reduction. Take, for example, product innovations like PepsiCo’s Trop50 brand—a blend of juice and water and sweetened with stevia—which has seen immense success in the United States.
And both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo launched reduced-calorie soft drinks using stevia. Coca-Cola Life—sweetened with a combination of sugar and stevia—was launched in Chile and Argentina in 2013. PepsiCo’s Pepsi Next launched in 2012 in Australia— also sweetened with sugar and stevia and boasting a 30 percent reduction in calories.
Easy peasy, right? Take some sugar out, add some no-calorie sweetener in, and voila! Product success.
Of course, it’s not actually that simple. In the Food Product Design Content Library, “Reducing Added Sugars" dives into the complexities behind sugar reduction—including FDA’s guidelines as to what warrants a “reduced-sugar" claim, what consumers are actually looking for in reduced-sugar foods and beverages and how to replace sugar’s functional benefits (in addition to its taste).
No comments:
Post a Comment