The season for visions of sugarplums has transitioned to that of resolutions for improved health and wellness. To many people, that means cutting back on sweets.
Anthropologists advise that humans are programmed to love sweetness and this affinity for sugar, wired into our genes, has led us to consume the calories and nutrients necessary for survival over the ages. Only in modern times have we become victims of our own success and our appetite for calories has outstripped our need, leading to a host of chronic diseases that impact our health and wellness goals.
As such, it’s not a surprise that the market for low/no sugar foods is expected to grow in 2024 and beyond. This trend is very apparent at Merlin Development, where we work on a continuous pipeline of new sweetener ingredient and applications research projects as well as new product development initiatives. The emphasis on natural, label-friendly solutions continues to dominate and includes everything from new stevia sweeteners (the technology has progressed significantly beyond the original Reb A option) to monk fruit and mogrosides, sweet proteins, other emerging sweeteners, and unique sweetener blends. Typically, high potency sweeteners are challenged to replace all the many functionalities of sugar beyond sweetness, and the best solutions often require a partnership between high potency sweeteners and bulk sweeteners such erythritol, allulose, tagatose, and fibers too.
The Merlins are well-versed in this special field of R&D with in-depth sweetener ingredient knowledge, years of practical experience, and a multitude of delicious and successful low/no sugar products on the market.
Stay tuned for our annual short course, “Low Calorie Sweeteners: The Alternatives to Sugar” which we will be hosting again this spring at our lab near Minneapolis. Please contact us for more information!