Milling & Baking News - August 29, 2017 - 21

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goods applications such as rolls, cakes,
pies, pastries, cookies and frostings
because it tastes and functions very
similar to sugar," said Sarah Scholl,
Ph.D., food scientist and bakery team
leader for Tate & Lyle and based in
Hoffman Estates, Ill. "It provides the
same structure and texture of sucrose,
as well as some improvements in the
shelf life or humectancy over time.
"For example, sensory data shows
that after three months of storage at
room temperature, bars made with allulose had much better texture acceptability compared to a bar made with
caloric sugars. Allulose also works
very well in achieving a caramel flavor
or other warm notes, like that found in
cookies and cakes."
Another version of the ingredient,
Dolcia Prima crystalline allulose, has
the same benefits as Dolcia Prima allulose syrup and opens up new categories and applications such as tabletop
sweeteners, dry beverage and meal
replacement mixes, fat-based creams,
and chocolate confectionery, she said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2014 said it had "no questions" about the Generally Recognized
As Safe (GRAS) status of allulose.
Now allulose suppliers are promoting
the sweetener to the food industry.
The awareness level of allulose is increasing globally through conferences
and seminars, and more companies
are checking out the sweetener, Mr.
Sasaki said.
Tate & Lyle since 2014 has communicated with hundreds of health professionals and given them ways to educate their patients and clients about
allulose, Dr. Scholl said.
"We are working closely with our

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Siratose, which comprises less than 1%
of luo han guo, has
not yet gained Generally Recognized As
Safe (GRAS) status.

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customers and health professionals to
assist them in proactively educating
consumers on reading labels that include allulose," she said. "We are encouraging our customers to proactively
add information to their labels, showing that allulose has negligible calories
and does not raise blood glucose."
Under current U.S. regulations, the
use of allulose may lead to claims
about sucrose or calorie reduction but
not sugar reduction, Mr. Sasaki said.
Astraea allulose is considered an added sugar even though it provides 0.2
calories per gram compared to sucrose
at 4 calories per gram.
"Many countries' authorities are in
discussion with academia and food industries to improve labeling," he said.
Masaaki Tokuda, M.D., Ph.D., a professor at Kagawa University, led the
development of Astraea allulose. Dr.
Tokuda and Matsutani Chemical Industry Co. are working with other rare
sugars, but developments may take a
few years, Mr. Sasaki said.
"However, we are always looking
for and welcome any potential customers who are willing to collaborate," Mr. Sasaki said.
Working in tandem
Allulose, a bulk sweetener, may
work in tandem with high-intensity
sweeteners, including steviol glycosides, Dr. Fry said.
"It's a bulk sweetener in the sense that
you need a lot of it to produce the sweet
effects," he said of allulose. "That's one
of the things that I think people generally don't realize is that sugar - ordinary table sugar - is actually not a very
good sweetener. It's not very good in the
sense that you need quite a lot of it to get

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the (desired) sweet taste, and that's part
of the problem in the modern world, is
that 'quite a lot of it' carries with it more
energy (calories)."
Allulose alone may replace regular
sucrose by 50% in applications, which
would reduce the sweetness level by
15% in the application, he said.
"To a lot of people that is undetectable," Dr. Fry said.
Going above 50% replacement
could have a more noticeable effect on
the sweetness level.
Enter high-intensity sweeteners,
which in applications needing a bulk
sweetener, like baked foods, could
benefit from allulose.
"High-potency sweeteners, such
as stevia and monk fruit extract, enable manufacturers to significantly
reduce sugar in formulations without
compromising taste," Dr. Scholl said.
"However, because these sweetening ingredients are used in such small
quantities in the final product, they do
not result in functional attributes like
bulk or mouthfeel."
Allulose may provide such bulk or
mouthfeel.
"Dolcia Prima allulose has a strong
sweetness synergy with sucralose (another high-intensity sweetener) and
stevia and can be used to reduce calories, build back body and mouthfeel,
and deliver an even better temporal
profile in sweetened baked goods."
Dr. Scholl said.
Steviol glycosides from stevia
leaves increasingly are used in foods
and beverages. The Freedonia Group,
a division of MarketResearch.com and
based in Cleveland, expects U.S. demand for stevia to reach $120 million
in 2021 after yearly gains of 11%.
Food accounted for $42 million of
demand, or 60% of overall demand,
for stevia in 2016, according to The
Freedonia Report "Natural Alternative Sweetener Market in the U.S."
Beverage accounted for 37%. U.S. demand for stevia in food is expected to
expand at about 10% yearly to reach
$68 million in 2021.
"I think both stevia and monk fruit
are likely to have versions that are derived from fermentation as we discover more about these particular natural
materials," Dr. Fry said. "You can't
grow enough (stevia) leaf or enough
monk fruit to extract these good-tasting molecules because they are there
at such a low concentration."
SweeGen, Inc., Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., uses a fermentation process to develop its stevia-based sweeteners. The process ensures sustained
Milling & Baking News XAugust 29, 2017 / 21

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Milling & Baking News - August 29, 2017

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