Ingredion sweetens stevia portfolio with PURECIRCLE Clean Taste Solubility Solution

CTSS is a proprietary combination of stevia glycosides that provides a high level of sugar reduction without impacting the taste profile of a food or beverage, Adams Berzins, senior manager of global sugar reduction product applications at Ingredion, told FoodNavigator-USA. The stevia sweetener is 100 times more soluble than Reb M stevia and is a one-to-one replacement for sugar, based on Ingredion’s internal tests.

Ingredion acquired sweetener supplier Pure Circle in 2020​, which “doubled its intellectual property portfolio” in stevia and laid the foundation for this release, Berzins said. 

“Clean Taste Solubility Solution really represents the next step for Ingredion as well as the outgrowth of Ingredion’s investment in the acquisition of Pure Circle. Pure Circle had a decades-long legacy of innovation in the stevia space. And really, what we have been able to do is, through our deep technical understanding of everything from the leaf agronomy through the production to the practical application in a finished good, understand how to develop these new tools that solve both taste and production challenges.” 

‘A profile that is much closer to sugar’ 

While CTSS has a range of product applications, Ingredion found the ingredient benefits categories where the “solubility unlock makes a difference,” including sodas and teas made through traditional bottling processing and products manufactured with cold processes, like sauces and dressings, Berzins said. The ingredient can also be used to reduce sugar in yogurts, syrups, and fruit preparations, he added.  

“We are able to achieve that high solubility as a part of our understanding and the production of the material, so you do not have to add non-stevia additives. It can be labeled generally the same as the Reb M products that are out in the market. And so, it enables this higher level of sugar reduction at great tasting profiles but also is easy to handle in the traditional concentrate to bottling pathway for a lot of beverages.”                                                  

Despite stevia’s prevalence as a sugar alternative, many consumers have criticized the ingredient's lingering bitter aftertaste. Through its research and understanding of Reb A and Reb M, Ingredion incorporates stevia glycosides into CTSS that can deliver the sweetness but do not have the bitterness typically associated with stevia, he added. 

“Your grandfather's stevia — the Reb A — that people tasted 15 years ago have that... classic stevia taste — lingering green, bitter, [and] solvent-type notes. And then, we have Reb M, much cleaner, higher sweetness, [and] not great solubility, but even that one has this classic sweet linger. The Clean Taste Solubility Solution significantly reduces that and actually has a profile that is much closer to sugar.” 

Consumer demand for low- and zero-sugar products rises

Natural sweeteners like stevia are having a moment among CPG brands managing the rising cost of sugar, and consumers, 61% of whom are limiting or avoiding sugar from their diet, according to a Statista survey of over 1,000 US consumers​. 

“Consumers [are making] much more conscious choices for their health in terms of reducing sugar or being less comfortable with artificial sweeteners. Specifically, the Clean Taste Solubility Solution ─ but stevia solutions in general like our Clean Taste portfolio ─ really does offer the opportunities to make really good cost and use options that ...  meets those needs for customers that are looking for a cleaner label, a more natural selection.”