PureCircle secures patent protection for sweetness enhancing flavor

09-Apr-2012 - Last updated on 10-Apr-2012 at 10:57 GMT

Stevia supplier PureCircle says it has secured a range of international patents for its natural flavor modifier NSF-02, which it claims will ensure its customers have exclusive access to the ingredient for enhancing the sweetness of stevia, sugar and high fructose corn syrup.

PureCircle said that the “comprehensive” patent portfolio for NSF-02 covers all aspects of the manufacturing process, as well as various ways of using the ingredient across most food and beverage categories. The flavor modifier has been designed to work specifically with PureCircle’s high purity stevia sweeteners, including Reb A, SG-95 and PureCircle Alpha, as well as sugar and HFCS, to enhance the flavor and sweetness of foods and beverages.

The company said: “PureCircle scientists discovered that NSF-02 can be used at particular concentrations to provide significantly enhanced flavor and sweetness profiles that deliver a more rounded, sugar-like taste. Synergistic effects with a number of commercial sweeteners were obtained with NSF-02, making it ideal for use across broad categories of food and beverage products.”

Several major manufacturers have been exploring the potential of mid-calorie products, using zero-calorie sweeteners in conjunction with full-calorie sweeteners to reduce calories, without losing the taste and mouthfeel that sweeteners like sugar and HFCS can bring. The company says its flavor modifier could help manufacturers create products that use less sweetener without affecting taste, thereby reducing calories and cost.

Vice president of global marketing and innovation at PureCircle, Jason Hecker, said: “In the past year, PureCircle flavors have helped some of the world’s leading brands improve the taste, calorie footprint, and cost of their products…Our strong suite of international patents is central to maintaining our innovation leadership and providing our customers with access to leading ingredient solutions.”

Speaking to FoodNavigator-USA last year when the ingredient was released in North America, Latin America, and Europe, Hecker said that NSF-02 was a proprietary formulation, and the company could not disclose details of its exact composition. It would be labeled as a natural flavor on product ingredient lists.

NSF-02 has achieved GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status in the US through the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA).