SUGAR REDUCTION Regulatory pressure to reduce sugar is not only spreading
in Europe – where taxes are being placed on high-content sugar products in most EU countries. Taxes and other governmental strategies, such as placing warning icons on labels, imposing advertising limitations, are also on the rise worldwide, especially in Latin America.
Consumers want bakery products that bring them joy and which are also healthier.
a portfolio of plant-based ingredients that can help bakeries meet their sugar management needs.” Roquette can offer a range of sugar alternatives, including maltitol, a polyol sweetener produced from wheat and corn. Maltitol has a sweetness that is very close to sugar but is ‘sugar-free’. With functional properties similar to sugar in its crystalline form, solubility and a lack of cooling effect, this sweetener can provide the foundation for product innovation without requiring major changes in recipes or manufacturing processes. Explaining how it is possible to reduce sugars in snacks without compromising taste, Thomas Boursier, Food Application Scientist at Roquette, says: “If you want to formulate sugar-reduced bakery and snacks with no compromise on taste, maltitol can help. Take, for example, a no-added-sugars sandwich biscuit. For the biscuit, maltitol will act like sugar does, performing as a bulking agent and providing binding properties that will result in a sweet biscuit with an excellent crunchy texture. Maltitol can also offer the sweetness needed for the filling. With our maltitol range we can achieve a recipe similar in appearance, texture, and taste to an average sandwich biscuit’s formulation, but with no added sugars.” It is not just consumers pushing the sugar reduction
trend. “Public health organisations have also linked sugar to a variety of health conditions, such as noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), obesity and dental caries, and diabetes,” points out Eva.
28 Kennedy’s Bakery Production February/March 2023
Tackling obesity In a bid to tackle rising obesity and diabetes rates in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region, governments have started to implement regulations on the food and beverage industry. In the UAE, for example, the government implemented a tax of 50% on any product with added sugar. “This new legislation supports the efforts of bakeries who have addressed sugar content and implemented reduction strategies and encourages others to start their own sugar reduction journey. “We foresee more regulation of this kind coming in the next few years as many countries from the Middle East and North Africa continue to rank highly in the Global Obesity Index,” says Dominique Floch, General Manager – Middle East, Africa, and Turkey at Tate & Lyle. Tate & Lyle has developed solutions to help bakery manufacturers navigate these challenges. “From cakes, muffins and pastries to bread, cookies, biscuits, crackers and baked snacks we work with companies to prototype new products that meet consumer demand for delicious, reduced sugar and calorie alternatives,” continues Dominique. For sweetness, Tate & Lyle is using plant-based ingredients such as sucralose and stevia which contain a fraction of the calories of sugar, or no calories at all. In line with other ingredient suppliers, Tate & Lyle is also utilising fibre and starch to help achieve sugar reduction without sacrificing taste and product integrity. Its soluble fibre ingredient offering, for example, has good digestive tolerance, reducing the possibility of digestive discomfort and increasing consumer satisfaction. In addition, it can offer maize starch for use in batters. “This starch suspends fruit pieces, nuts, and fillings before and during baking and helps manufacturers deliver clean label claims in fillings for baked goods and puddings,” concludes Dominique.
Making a change
Discussing the challenges for bakers looking to reduce sugar in baked goods, Jeff Hodges, Manager – Bakery, Snacks & Confections Applications at ADM, says: “Sugar reduction strategies will depend heavily on the type of baked goods. In those that are more savoury than sweet, such as artisan or sandwich breads, only a slight adjustment to the yeast system is required to reach sugar reduction targets. For cakes, brownies, cookies and bars, bakers can use a one-for- one swap of ingredients to meet desired goals. For nearly any bakery formulation, it’s best to incorporate incremental changes to ensure the proper results are achieved for consumer-preferred reduced-sugar bakes.” The type of sweetener used will, of course, impact formulation techniques. “Swapping a traditional granulated sugar for a liquid sugar system may require minor modifications involving water content and the preferred sweetness level,” advises Jeff. “However, greater formulation adjustments might be necessary when switching from a conventional sweetener to a lower sugar option.
bakeryproduction.co.uk
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