Consumers are studying nutrition and ingredient labels more than ever before. While more than half look for calories, many are specifically zeroing in on added sugars, total sugars, and total carbohydrates.
Likewise, more US consumers have changed their intake of presweetened foods. Most consumers choose to indulge in desserts and similar confections to satisfy a sweet craving, but this can also be perceived as an unhealthy choice. There have been many dessert innovations that attempt to balance consumer cravings and health expectations. But there are preconceived notions — not all of them unfounded — among consumers that the taste will suffer as a result of reductions in sugar, calories, or carbohydrates. In the past, they might have been correct in those assumptions. As many product developers and corporate chefs know, swapping one ingredient for another is not always a piece of cake (pun intended).