Advances In Sweeteners

The subject of sweeteners continues to advance and expand, but the progress that is being made may not be apparent for all to see, owing to changes that have been taking place in how research is funded and the locations where it is now mainly done. In former times scientific advancement was rated as a prized part of the output of academic research laboratories and institutions. Today, however, it is increasingly likely that major advances emanate chiefly from the research and development units of industrial and commercial enterprises and organisations. This means of course that the work becomes more focused on achieving specific marketing objectives, but because of the high level of commitment, cost and dedicated input required, publication of the findings tends to take a lower priority, and may actually be barred if there is any risk of loss of the commercial edge or advantage which has been one of the targets of the research. Thus one of the objects of preparing this book has been to collect together information that might otherwise remain unpublished on advances in the field of sweeteners. Of the fifteen contributions which form the chapters, only 13% originate from academic departments, whereas in earlier books of reviews on similar topics, contributions from academic sources accounted for as much as 50% (Developments in Sweeteners, vols 2 and 3, 1987 and 1989) and 64% (Progress in Sweeteners, 1989).

This book provides a comprehensive and accessible source of information on all types of sweeteners and functional ingredients, enabling manufacturers to produce low sugar versions of all types of foods that not only taste and perform as well as sugar-based products, but also offer consumer benefits such as calorie reduction, dental health benefits, digestive health benefits and improvements in long term disease risk through strategies such as dietary glycaemic control. Now in a revised and updated new edition which contains seven new chapters, part I of this volume addresses relevant digestive and dental health issues as well as nutritional considerations. Part II covers non-nutritive, high-potency sweeteners and, in addition to established sweeteners, includes information to meet the growing interest in naturally occurring sweeteners. Part III deals with the bulk sweeteners which have now been used in foods for over 20 years and are well established both in food products and in the minds of consumers. In addition to the "traditional" polyol bulk sweeteners, newer products such as isomaltulose are discussed. These are seen to offer many of the advantages of polyols (for example regarding dental heath and low glycaemic response) without the laxative side effects if consumed in large quantity. Part IV provides information on the sweeteners which do not fit into the above groups but which nevertheless may offer interesting sweetening opportunities to the product developer. Finally, Part V examines bulking agents and multifunctional ingredients which can be beneficially used in combination with all types of sweeteners and sugars.

Sugar replacement in food and beverage manufacture no longer hasjust an economic benefit. The use of ingredients to improve thenutritional status of a food product is now one of the majordriving forces in new product development. It is thereforeimportant, as options for sugar replacement continue to increase,that expert knowledge and information in this area is readilyavailable. Sweeteners and Sugar Alternatives in Food Technologyprovides the information required for sweetening and functionalsolutions, enabling manufacturers to produce processed foods thatnot only taste and perform as well as sugar-based products, butalso offer consumer benefits such as calorie reduction, dentalhealth benefits, digestive health benefits and improvements in longterm disease risk through strategies such as dietary glycaemiccontrol. Part I of this comprehensive book addresses these healthand nutritional considerations. Part II covers non-nutritive,high-intensity sweeteners, providing insights into blendingopportunities for qualitative and quantitative sweetnessimprovement as well as exhaustive application opportunities. PartIII deals with reduced calorie bulk sweeteners, which offer bulkwith fewer calories than sugar, and includes both the commerciallysuccessful polyols as well as tagatose, an emerging functional bulksweetener. Part IV looks at the less well-established sweetenersthat do not conform in all respects to what may be considered to bestandard sweetening properties. Finally, Part V examines bulkingagents and multifunctional ingredients. Summary tables at the endof each section provide valuable, concentrated data on each of thesweeteners covered. The book is directed at food scientists andtechnologists as well as ingredients suppliers.

The study of sweetness and sweeteners has recently been an area well served by books at all levels, but this volume was planned to fill what we perceived as a gap in the coverage. There appeared to be no book which attempted to combine a study of sweetness with a thorough but concise coverage of all aspects of sweeteners. We set out to include all the important classes of sweeteners, including materials which do not yet have regulatory approval, so that clear comparisons could be made between them and their technological advantages and disadvantages. To achieve our first aim, of sufficient depth of coverage, the accounts within this volume are comprehensive enough to satisfy the requirements of a demanding readership, but cannot be exhaustive in a single volume of moderate proportions. The second aim, of breadth and conciseness, is satisfied by careful selection of the most pertinent material. For the purposes of this book, a sweetener is assumed to be any substance whose primary effect is to sweeten a food or beverage to be consumed, thus including both the nutritive and non-nutritive varieties, from the ubiquitous sucrose to the lesser known, newer developments in alternative sweeteners. The volume has its contents structured in a logical manner to enable it to be used in an ordered study of the complete subject area or as a convenient reference source.

This book contains the reports presented at the international conference on the topic. It contains synopsis reports instead of verbatim reports. The text is divided into six parts: (1) sweetener use; (2) metabolism and effects of sweeteners; (3) health effects; (4) reproduction and neurobiology; (5) toxicology studies, and (6) epidemiology and regulatory aspects.

Sugar substitutes have been a part of American life since saccharin was introduced at the 1893 World's Fair. In Empty Pleasures, the first history of artificial sweeteners in the United States, Carolyn de la Pena blends popular culture with business and women's history, examining the invention, production, marketing, regulation, and consumption of sugar substitutes such as saccharin, Sucaryl, NutraSweet, and Splenda. She describes how saccharin, an accidental laboratory by-product, was transformed from a perceived adulterant into a healthy ingredient. As food producers and pharmaceutical companies worked together to create diet products, savvy women's magazine writers and editors promoted artificially sweetened foods as ideal, modern weight-loss aids, and early diet-plan entrepreneurs built menus and fortunes around pleasurable dieting made possible by artificial sweeteners. NutraSweet, Splenda, and their predecessors have enjoyed enormous success by promising that Americans, especially women, can "have their cake and eat it too," but Empty Pleasures argues that these "sweet cheats" have fostered troubling and unsustainable eating habits and that the promises of artificial sweeteners are ultimately too good to be true.