Four ingredient companies from around the globe have formed a consortium to promote allulose in Europe, where the sweetener is not yet approved. As they prepare to submit a joint application for its approval, they're looking for more companies, including food & beverage processors, to join the effort.
The four founders of the Allulose Novel Food Consortium (ANFC) are Ingredion Inc. from here in the U.S.; Cosun Beet Co., a European sugar beet processor; Matsutani Chemical Industry, a Japanese company that provided much of the initial work on allulose; and Samyang Corp., a South Korean food ingredients supplier.
They plan to prepare and submit a joint application to the European Commission and the UK Food Standards Agency for the authorization of allulose as a novel food ingredient.
Allulose was deemed Generally Recognized As Safe in the U.S. in a series of filings beginning in 2012. It's authorized as a food ingredient in several countries, including Japan, Mexico, Singapore and South Korea.
Allulose is a naturally derived rare sugar providing 70% the sweetness of regular sugar (sucrose) and a similar taste profile and functional properties. But it contributes just 10% of the calories of standard sugar. As a result, the FDA ruled that it can be excluded from specification of the total sugars and added sugars on nutritional labeling, but still included in the amount of total carbohydrates.
For more information and to join the ANFC, contact Shigehiro Hayashi at Matsutani Chemical ([email protected]).
