With obesity on the rise, consumers increasingly recognize that sugar contributes a high level of calories in relation to its volume. However, formulating foods and beverages that are reduced in sugar remains a challenge, since consumers often won’t compromise on the taste attributes they expect. Reformulating products to be low in sugar—without loss in product quality—is a key trend in the food industry. Lowering sugar may result in higher costs for alternate materials and processing. Launched at the 2012 International Food Technologists’ meeting, Nutrinova’s Sunsation platform offers a cost-effective solution for sweetening low- and no-calorie foods and beverages, with the added advantage of a sugar-like taste.

Nutrinova, the global sweetener and preservative business of Celanese Corporation, created the Sunsation platform to fill a need in the industry for better-tasting, zero-calorie sweetened products. In the past, manufacturers had to use multiple sweetener ingredients and different combinations to create a desired taste profile. The Sunsation platform’s approach provides drop-in solutions in which the individual ingredients have been selected to complement one another.

The Sunsation Sunett SL system includes Nutrinova’s Sunett; other high-intensity sweeteners; and specialty ingredients that have been combined to provide a clean, sweet taste that is closer to sugar vs. similar products. Sunett, a tooth-friendly sweetener, is 200 times sweeter than sucrose; offers a rapid onset of sweet taste; superior storage stability; improved solubility; and excellent blending characteristics. Sunett is used in more than 5,000 food, beverage and pharmaceutical products. Sunsation Sunett SL, an extension of Nutrinova’s current Sunett, is a sweetener system for sugar-reduced or sugar-free food and beverage products.

Sensory tests by ISI, an international sensory analysis com-pany, indicate that Sunsation Sunett SL significantly improves the sweetness of sugar-reduced and sugar-free products. In addition, users reported a significantly improved mouthfeel. All of the materials used in Sunsation platform products are approved for use in food and beverage applications.

The “2011 Food and Health Survey: Consumer Attitudes Toward Food Safety, Nutrition and Health,” commissioned by the International Food Information Council Foundation, reported that approximately one third of Americans (34%) agree that low-calorie sweeteners are an option for people with diabetes. In addition, about one in three Americans agree that low-calorie sweeteners can play a role in weight loss or weight management (29%) and can reduce the calorie content of foods (29%). 

The creation of the Sunsation system is indeed timely; it provides consumers with a broader selection of low-calorie, palatable foods and beverages. It also offers sweet alternatives for people with diabetes, who must monitor their carbohydrate and sugar intakes carefully. Such low-calorie sweeteners also can play a role in a weight-management plan.