The formulations do not compromise taste and texture, ingredient maker Tate & Lyle claimed yesterday in a press release.
The fruit dessert sector has been divided in recent years into full-sugar products, light products and ultra-light products.
"While commercially available ultra-light products contain around 90 per cent fewer calories than full-sugar fruit dessert, they have proved unpopular with many consumers because of their jelly-like consistency," the company stated.
The new formulations have a nutritional profile that puts them in between the ultra-light and light categories. They still deliver the taste and texture of a light product, the company claimed.
Tate & Lyle's fruit dessert Rebalance 018 is a dry formulation that allows processors to cut calories by 48 per cent compared to equivalent full-sugar products. The formulation can result in product with a final nutritional value of 67.0 kcal/100g.
The Rebalance 017 formulation is a liquid that allows processors to reduce calories by up to 40 per cent compared to equivalent full-sugar products. The formulation can result in product with a final nutritional value of 86.0 kcal/100g.
In both cases, the final sugar content of the fruit dessert is equal or above 5g /100g, the company stated.
"Light and ultra-light fruit desserts have typically ticked all the boxes for nutritional content but disappointed on taste and mouthfeel," the company stated. "We have seen that irrespective of high calorie or sugar reduction, products which do not deliver on taste will not achieve mainstream success. Taste is king...Fruit desserts made with our products give a burst of fruit flavour and have a soft, jam-like mouthfeel."
Prototype fruit desserts made with either of the two formulations used strawberries, the most popular fruit demanded in this market segment, but food manufacturers can use the formulations with any type of fruit they wish, the company stated.
Fruit dessert can be used in a wide range of applications including bakery toppings, sold in jars as a fruit topping for toast and as a grab-and-go fruit dessert.