Sugar Alternatives Used in Food and Beverages

February is sweet as sugar with all of the delicious treats from Valentine’s Day. No wonder we have a sugar rush! When it comes to product creation, it’s essential to know what sweetener works best for your product. Sweeteners can vary in caloric value, mouthfeel, and of course, sweetness per volume – all of which can affect the final product.

Thankfully, our R&D Applications team is here to help with any questions you may have on sugar alternatives.

Stevia 

Stevia is a natural, zero-cal sweetener used in many popular diet drinks. Stevia extract can be 300x sweeter than sugar and lasts longer on the palate. Its advantages in the product industry lie with its stability towards heat pH and are non-fermentable. Its bitter after taste can be corrected with Sovereign’s bitter blockers or the addition of other sweeteners.

Monk Fruit 

This small fruit drives its sugars from mogroside, an extremely sweet substance with zero calories. Monk fruit can taste up to 200x sweeter than sugar. The combination of Monk fruit and Stevia is commonly found in products to produce a profile that is closer to natural sugar.

Sweetness Enhancer 

Sweetness enhancers can be used as flavor modifiers to enhance the perception of sweetness in food and beverage products. Sweetness enhancers can potentially reduce the amounts of sweeteners in products without removing the sweetness. We create our own unique blend of raw materials at Sovereign to create a sweetness enhancer ready for any project.

Sucralose & Ace-k

Sucralose is an artificial sweetener 600x sweeter than natural sugar with no calories. Sucralose is exceptionally stable and will stay sweet in various conditions, from frozen desserts to baked goods.

Acesulfame K or Ace-k is an artificial calorie-free sweetener. It is formed by combining acetoacetic acid and potassium, creating a highly stable sweetener that is 200x sweeter than sugar. Ace-K is commonly blended with Sucralose to mask the bitter aftertaste that sucralose can have on its own.