Sugar reduction remains a major consumer concern, especially as weight-loss/weight management has begun to return to the center stage as a primary issue. Concurrently, the plant-based food industry is continuing to grow, with one of the most prominent plant-based product categories being dairy analogs. In fact, according to a study by the consumer research organization MarketsandMarkets, Inc., the global plant-based dairy analog market is forecast to hit USD43.6 billion by 2028, demonstrating a CAGR of more than 10%.

Since uniting the sugar-reduction and plant-based dairy trends presents unique challenges, Prepared Foods reached out to food scientist, author, and industry, Rachel Zemser. Zemser, owner of the Food Science and Development Consultancy, a la carte connections, shared her insight into the best sweeteners to turn to when developing plant-based milk, yogurt, and ice cream. It should be noted that the term “sugar” in this feature refers to the full-calorie sweeteners sucrose, fructose (including high-fructose corn syrup), glucose/dextrose, and other natural sweeteners contributing 4kcal/g.

“When you’re creating a low- or no-sugar dairy replacer option, there are a lot of different factors that you have to consider,” says Zemser. Several such factors she points to are: what’s going to happen to that product/how it will be enjoyed; sugar’s bulking function; and mouthfeel and melting textures; and, of course, the flavor profile.

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When dealing with items that do not need bulking, however, there are more options for reducing sugar calories. “For plant-based milks you really don’t need a whole lot of thickness and sugar to go in there,” says Zemser. “If you do want a little bit of sweetness, then you can definitely rely on monkfruit or stevia.”

While today’s forms of stevia and monkfruit provide much cleaner flavor profiles without the bitterness and off flavors previously associated with them, Zemser does stress that for some formulations their use might require other ingredients to mask or balance a formulation’s final organoleptic attributes.

Sugar Reduction in Plant-Based Dairy

Prepared Foods reached out to food scientist, author, and industry expert Rachel Zemser, owner of the Food Science and Development Consultancy, a la carte connections. She shared her insight into the best sweeteners to turn to when developing plant-based milk, yogurt, and ice cream.

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“Every sweetener has its pro and its cons,” Zemser says. “Allulose, for example, is a great bulk sugar replacer—it tastes really good, it doesn’t have as strong of an aftertaste as some of the other sugar replacers, but it is important to…know where your product is going to be sold. Certain stores are not okay yet with allulose .There also are some FDA limits on how much allulose one can put into food.”

Although cautioning developers on the 30g/day GRAS status of allulose, Zemser also lauds the sweetener’s benefits in addition to it having the same bulking capacity as sucrose, its clean tasting 0.4kcals/g, and the fact that it doesn’t have to be listed as an added sugar on the Nutrition Facts label.

Zemser describes the other rare sugar, the new low-calorie—1.35kcals/g—tagatose as well. That sweetener is prized for its bulking capacity as well, its clean flavor and sweetness level both nearly identical to sucrose, and its added benefit of being classified as a prebiotic fiber to aid in digestive health. She also touches on other natural sweeteners from fruits, such as carob, coconuts, dates, raisins, grapes, and sweet potatoes. While these sweeteners only offer slight caloric reductions—around 10-25%, depending on the formulation—they also can add their own flavor profiles and complexities regarding mouthfeel, texture, and melting points.