Culinology - December 2019 - 11

ugar reduction remains a priority for food and beverage product developers. Many have
been racing to meet the Jan. 1 deadline when the inclusion of added sugars to the new
Nutrition Facts Label will go into effect. But companies received a reprieve in late October
when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it will not focus on enforcement actions for
six months after the new label goes into effect. Instead, during the first six months of 2020, the
FDA will work with manufacturers to meet the new label requirements.
Despite the reprieve, sugar reduction is important given how some consumers view the impact of sugar on their health and well-being. Consumers who participated in the International
Food Information Council Foundation's (IFIC) 2019 Food & Health Survey ranked limiting sugar
intake as the No. 1 change they have made in their diet, ahead of eating more fruits and vegetables (No. 2), eating fewer carbohydrates (No. 3) and eating healthy protein sources (No. 4).
When asked to rank the source of calories most likely to cause weight gain, sugar came out on
top again, according to the survey.
The two primary actions consumers take to reduce sugar intake include drinking water instead of caloric beverages and eliminating certain foods and beverages from their diet. For the
manufacturers of products that may be in danger of being eliminated from a consumer's diet,
offering a reduced-sugar variety may make all the difference.
Formulators are seeking options to meet the expectations of consumers considering reducing their sugar consumption. One company making inroads in developing reduced-sugar
options is Ingredion Inc., Westchester, Ill. At 28 Ingredion Idea Labs Innovation Centers worldwide, product developers are working to create market-ready, reduced-sugar products that
have the taste, texture and performance customers are seeking.
Nelson Serrano-Bahri, culinary manager for emerging business at Ingredion, is working with
a team at The Hatchery, an incubator facility where the company's Chicago Idea Lab is located. Mr. Serrano-Bahri has been working with a consumer packaged goods (CPG) company to
create a product boasting better-for-you attributes rather than tweaking an existing formulation
to reduce the sugar content.
"The focus is all around fruit-forward flavors," Mr. Serrano-Bahri said.
During a four-day prototyping event, a team of about 25 - including marketers, chefs, ingredient specialists, food scientists and others - generated ideas to fit a framework provided by
the client.
"They came up with 60-70 ideas, from which we chose 12," Mr. Serrano-Bahri said. "On day
two, we showed the 12 written-out ideas to consumers; we also created pictures such as a
jam jar without a label with 'your' product in there. Consumers were asked to choose three of
the concepts."
On the third day, three prototypes were formulated in the kitchen, and
finally, on day four, consumers helped refine the concepts.
"Had we nailed the idea?" Mr. Serrano-Bahri said.
"We hope they'll guide the choice for at least one
product that's well suited for commercialization."
To reduce sugar in a formulation, Mr.

by Karen Weisberg
editor@sosland.com

Nelson SerranoBahri, culinary
manager for
emerging business,
Ingredion Inc.
Photo credit: Ingredion Inc.

DECEMBER 2019 | Culinology |

Culinology - December 2019

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