GSB Flavor Creators claim that their Natural Sugar Extender product can reduce a beverage group’s sugar needs by about 17 per cent, leading to cost savings and reduced calorie content within beverages.
“This flavor was developed to reduce about 2 brix worth of sugar in a beverage product,” said Larry Engel, group director of flavor development.
Engel said that the product, which is derived from natural raw materials certified as both FEMA generally recognized as safe (GRAS) and kosher, was not designed to replace sugar completely, but enhance it flavor for use in low-calorie beverage products.
Now launched on the US market, GSB said that the flavor enhancer had been targeted specifically at beverages, though it could potentially be extended for use in confectionery without reducing taste.
Health drive
Engel said that the product could particularly meet drink formulator needs for products geared towards offering health benefits.
Devising the flavor extender had not been without difficulties for the group though, which claimed that there had been a number of challenges in mimicking the qualities of sugar in formulation.
“It is a challenge to extend the sweetness in a product without contributing any off-notes or odd character that would be associated with reducing the sugar content,” stated the company spokesperson.
The group believes it has been able to meet this target, while reducing the case costs of a 24 10-ounce beverage bottle pack by about $0.05, according to its estimates.
As the search for lower calorie sweetener alternatives heat up, a number of companies have been launching similar flavor enhancing products designed to have applications in augmenting taste. These have been designed in a bid to mask potential issues with aftertaste in some stevia extracts.