{"id":164,"date":"2009-06-29T16:47:36","date_gmt":"2009-06-29T20:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/caloriecontrol.wpengine.com\/?p=164"},"modified":"2023-04-14T11:34:11","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T15:34:11","slug":"multiple-ingredient-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caloriecontrol.org\/multiple-ingredient-approach\/","title":{"rendered":"Multiple Ingredient Approach"},"content":{"rendered":"
Low-calorie food ingredients make thousands of the low-calorie and low-fat foods and beverages possible today. Approximately 194 million Americans consume these products. There are numerous petitions pending today for government approval of low-calorie sweeteners, fat replacers and other low-calorie ingredients. And that means even more products will be available soon to help consumers reduce calories, fat and cholesterol.<\/p>\n
Health-conscious consumers have indicated they want additional good-tasting, low-calorie and reduced-fat (“light”) foods and beverages. Having a variety of low-calorie ingredients available allows food manufacturers to choose the most appropriate ingredient, or combination of ingredients, for a given product \u2014 the “multiple ingredient approach.”<\/p>\n
Prior to the 1960s, “dietetic” products were marketed primarily to people (such as diabetic individuals) who for medical reasons had to follow dietary restrictions as part of a dietetic diet<\/a>. Since that time, there has been a steady and significant change in consumers’ perceptions of reduced-calorie products \u2014 they are no longer for the few, but for the majority.<\/p>\n Increased health consciousness across the U.S., spawned during the 1960s, has blossomed into a national phenomenon. With the fitness craze has come an increasing number of converts to the “light” market. Today there is a strong demand for a wide variety of good-tasting, light foods and beverages, whether the foods are based on carbohydrate, fat or other caloric replacements.<\/p>\n For nearly a century, low-calorie products were almost entirely dependent upon saccharin, the oldest of available low-calorie sweeteners. Now with the addition of aspartame, acesulfame potassium, neotame and sucralose, as well as the possible approval of other low-calorie sweeteners such as cyclamate, a “multiple sweetener<\/i> approach” is being utilized, providing consumers with new product and taste choices.<\/p>\n A variety of sweeteners is important because neither saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, neotame, sucralose nor any of the new sweeteners is perfect for all uses. However, with several low-calorie sweeteners available, each can be used in the applications for which it is best suited. Also, when necessary, manufacturers can overcome limitations of individual sweeteners by blending sweeteners together.<\/p>\n Since its discovery in 1879 and during its extensive use in foods throughout the twentieth century, saccharin<\/a> provided the foundation for low-calorie foods and beverages. Although it was used commercially as early as 1910, the real impetus for widespread use was provided by both World Wars, when sugar supplies were rationed and\/or cut off entirely.<\/p>\n During the 1960s, cyclamate<\/a> joined saccharin as a viable commercial sweetener, and the two ingredients in tandem were popular in diet soft drinks, tabletop sweeteners and other products. This was really the first practical application of the multiple sweetener approach. The primary advantage of this sweetener blend was that saccharin boosted the sweetening power of the less potent cyclamate (the two sweeteners have a synergistic effect \u2014 that is, the sweetness of the combination is greater than the sum of the individual parts).<\/p>\n In 1970, cyclamate was taken off the U.S. market, and once again saccharin became the only low-calorie alternative to sugar.<\/p>\n Aspartame<\/a> made its debut in the U.S. food supply in 1981 when it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use as a tabletop sweetener and in various foods and dry beverage mixes. Approval of the sweetener was expanded in 1983 to include carbonated beverages. Since then, aspartame has been approved for additional foods and beverages and is now approved for use in any food or beverage. It currently is used in more than 6,000 products worldwide.<\/p>\n With these approvals and its clean, sweet taste, aspartame provided much of the impetus for the tremendous growth in light foods and beverages during the 1980s. Aspartame’s assets include a sugar-like taste and properties which make it suitable for a variety of products. It has the ability to intensify and extend certain flavors, especially fruit flavors, which, for example, makes chewing gum taste sweet up to four times longer than with sugar-sweetened gum.<\/p>\n In 1988, FDA approved another low-calorie sweetener, acesulfame potassium<\/a>, for use as a tabletop sweetener, in dry beverage mixes and in other foods. Since then, FDA approved acesulfame potassium for additional uses, including carbonated beverages. Acesulfame potassium’s stability in heat and in liquids makes it a versatile sweetener with potential use in a wide range of foods and beverages.<\/p>\n Acesulfame potassium may be combined with other low-calorie sweeteners resulting in synergistic blends that provide improved taste profiles and overcome the slight aftertaste which may be noted in some products when acesulfame potassium is used at high concentrations. Acesulfame potassium also can provide economic and stability advantages when blended with other sweeteners.<\/p>\n Sucralose was granted approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on April 1, 1998 and approved for use in 15 food and beverage categories. This is the broadest initial approval ever granted by FDA for a food ingredient. The FDA expanded the uses for sucralose in 1999, approving it as a “general purpose” sweetener. Sucralose is a derivative of sugar but is 600 times sweeter, so very small amounts are needed to obtain equivalent sweetness. It tastes like sugar and has excellent stability in liquids and when heated. Sucralose is approved in more than 30 countries.<\/p>\n In July 2002, the FDA approved the use of neotame as a sweetening ingredient in any food or beverage product sold in the U.S. Neotame tastes very similar to sugar, is sweeter than other no-calorie sweeteners and is approximately 30 times sweeter than aspartame, and 7,000-13,000 times sweeter than sugar.<\/p>\n Additional low-calorie sweeteners, including\u00a0cyclamate<\/a>, could be available in the U.S. in the near future.\u00a0A petition for the return of cyclamate to the U.S. market has been pending before FDA since 1982. If cyclamate is reapproved, it will be used in combination with other sweeteners for most uses, primarily because of its relatively low sweetness intensity — 30 times sweeter than sucrose.<\/p>\n Recently, the reduced caloric value of a group of sweeteners known generally as polyols<\/a> has become more widely recognized. Included in this group are: erythritol, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol and hydrogenated starch hydrolysates. Polyols can be used in a wide range of low-calorie, low-fat and sugar-free foods \u2014 from baked goods to frozen dairy desserts and confections \u2014 since they provide bulk without all the calories of sugar. Polyols do not promote tooth decay. Also, they are acceptable for people with diabetes following a diabetic diet<\/a>.<\/p>\nStrength in Numbers<\/h2>\n
Saccharin and Cyclamate \u2014 Synergistic Team<\/h2>\n
Aspartame Joins the Roster<\/h2>\n
Acesulfame Potassium Brings More Low-Calorie Choices<\/h2>\n
Sucralose Expands Choices<\/h2>\n
Neotame Becomes the Newest Sweetener<\/h2>\n
Other Sweeteners Being Reviewed<\/h2>\n
Polyols Also Offer Low-Calorie Benefits<\/h2>\n
New Fat Replacers on the Horizon<\/h2>\n