Replacing sugar and fat

Other sugar replacers, including polyols and trehalose, are used to reduce the amount of sucrose in products. These products have fewer calories than a similar amount of sucrose. Trehalose, offered by Cargill Health & Food Technologies, is replaceable pound-for-pound with sugar, but because it metabolized differently, it provides only about 1.3 calories per gram.

Erythritol, a polyol that was recently approved in Canada (it has been approved in the U.S. since 1997) produces 0.2 Kcal/g. It provides body to foods and is approved for use in beverages, chocolate and confections, baked goods, sauces, ice cream, yogurt, salty snacks, fruit fillings, icings, cookies, bars, breakfast cereals and other products.

“Eridex [Cargill’s brand of erythritol] really took off with the low-carb craze of last year because it contributed virtually no calories, has no contribution to blood sugar, has very high digestive tolerance (2-4 times the tolerance of other polyols and higher tolerance than even many nutritive sugars like lactose and crystalline fructose) and is naturally occurring and naturally produced,” according to Ron Perko, business development manager for polyols at Cargill Food and Pharma Specialties (www.cargill.com), Minneapolis. “With the current emphasis on obesity and diabetes, we are seeing more interest in reduced-calorie products and products with a lower glycemic load.”

NOTE TO PLANT OPS Producing low-sugar and/or low-fat products generally means a new approach to formulation. In today's atmosphere, it means formulating a healthy product and adding appropriate ingredients to ensure it tastes good. The manufacturing plant will depend heavily on the development team for initial production, because these products likely will be very different from the products they may replace. A low-fat product that contains a starch or gum-based mimetic may need different mixing conditions. For instance, it may require more careful pumping actions to avoid breaking an emulsion that is different from the emulsions in a fat-containing product. Heating requirements may be different as well, especially for a product that is sterilized by heat. Fat conducts heat differently than a water-phase with carbohydrates. If the product is retorted, for instance, this may require new heat penetration studies. A low-sugar product that contains high-intensity sweeteners will need to be processed to the temperature requirements of the new sweetener, and the absence of sugar may change the heating parameters for flavor retention. In other words, it’s a whole new ballgame. Times and temperatures, pumping pressures and holding times will have to be revisited. Packaging may need different structures to maintain the new product, and even the outside carton may need revisions. Don’t think of this product as a line extension, any more than you’d think of baseball as a replacement for football.