How can a nation be great if it’s bread tastes like Kleenex? – Julia Child

We had a bit of a discussion going with JP over at Healthy Fellow regarding the challenges of incorporating natural, healthy alternative ingredients into mainstream food products. One challenge is economic as some of these more innovative ingredients come at a price. For example, outside of colour, coconut sugar could be used in most places that refined sugar is used today, however it costs more.

JP suggested that consumer demand and taste were the main factors in adoption of healthier ingredients, rather than cost, and we tend to agree. Clearly there is a growing awareness of food quality and functionality with modern consumers and this is leading to a growing demand for healthier ingredients in the foods we eat. Basic economics would tell us that growing demand will also drive supply and lead to lower costs. So it really comes down to taste. As JP pointed out:

For instance, I can buy a large bag of “bakers stevia” such as Stevia in Raw for about the same amount as a comparably-sized Splenda package. On the other hand, I couldn’t get my wife to accept the taste of stevia – regardless of the price. Unfortunately, she’s not the only one that feels this way…The regulatory status of stevia is what it is today because there was sufficient demand for it. But even so, the market is somewhat limited because of tepid consumer acceptance of the current products on the market.

The overall sentiment is that if manufacturers can somehow produce products based on natural, healthy ingredients that taste as good as the current mainstream products, they’ll be adopted by consumers. For food manufacturers, achieving this ideal combination of health and taste may require changes to processes and formulation. According the the recent article Building Better Desserts at FoodProcessing.com:

The dessert items receiving the brunt of healthy treatments certainly would be baked goods, such as cakes and cookies…the incorporation of ingredients such as whole grains can readily make them healthier…But these ingredients do change the baking aspects of products — such as the mixing — so processes and formulas need to be adjusted.

Besides processes and formulation, the taste challenge can also be addressed by innovation with the basic constituents themselves, for example, various suppliers of food ingredients are developing healthier fats and oils as well as unique whole grains, fibers and beta glucans. In fact, we saw a new version of stevia at the IFT Food Expo in Chicago just last week that does not need any masking agents (i.e. flavours) for its lingering sweetness.

Lastly, the push for healthier retail food products is not just driven by consumer demand but by regulation, which provides yet another challenge for food manufacturers when pursuing consumer acceptance. Afterall, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink it. It all comes down to taste.

It was great to see old and new faces at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo 2010 in Chicago. Even better was the fact that they had added the Process Expo with the IFT Food Expo at McCormick Place – as it provided more interesting things to see all under one venue.

The top themes that seemed to dominate the show floor:

• trans-fat options
• fibre in all shapes and forms
• inclusion of fruits

The “regulars” were omnipresent in several booths: probiotics, natural colours, antioxidants, acai and stevia. Even though stevia is old news, it was interesting to see a new version that does not need any masking agents (i.e. flavours) for its lingering sweetness. For a few of us observers, GNT won hands down for having the most attractive booth.

Other notables included puff snacks with purple corn extract and therefore high in antioxidants. Quinoa is becoming mainstream. The pistachio booth offered a quinoa salad with pistachio slivers and goat cheese which was delicious. The Innova booth is always an interesting one to visit – I hope they remember to send me the information they had promised! Here’s a couple more pictures:

The World Health Organization reports that there are over a billion overweight adults worldwide.  Factors such as reduced physical activity, poor selection of foods (those that are high in sugar and fats); bot have contributed to this condition.

The risks to health from obesity range from diabetes, hypertension and certain forms of cancer.  It is also detrimental emotionally and psychologically.

Despite this alarming fact, consumers are still drawn to foods that provide that pleasant sweet taste.   To help assuage the situation, food manufacturers have tried and tested various solutions in their quest to “responsibly” satisfy the sweet tooth.

There came the artificial or non-nutritive sweeteners: aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-potassium, polydextrose, sucralose, thaumatin, alitame and sugar alcohols (polyols) like sorbitol, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol and xylitol.   These generally have a GI of zero.

Thaumatin, an intensely sweet tasting protein is derived from the membranours sac of the katemfe fruit in West Africa. It has traditionally been used as a source of flavour. In the 1970s, Tate & Lyle began extracting thaumatin from the fruit and has coined the brandname TALIN. TALIN stands for “Tate And Lyle INgredients”. It is commercialized by the Overseal company.

The use of these chemically synthesized sweeteners have resulted to some adverse effects in humans.  A number of individuals may be allergic or highly sensitive to the use these high-intensity sugar substitutes.  There is also the issue on carcinogens with regards to saccharin. In addition to a number of health controversies, stability may oftentimes be limited.  Aspartame for example in beverage applications would usually last only for about 6 months.    The lingering sweet taste may also be a deterring factor.  Often, the perceived intense sweetness of these products is longer than desired; leaving an unpleasant sensation in the taste buds.   However, an advantage of using these types of sweeteners in addition to less or no calories is their cost.   The level of usage is much lower when using these sweeteners compared to sugar.

There are other sweetness enhancing products available, which are natural.  These sugar alternatives have been in use for many centuries.  The common process to produce these types of sugar involves evaporating the water content thus concentrating the natural sugars that are inherently present.

Agave is made from the agave plant, this is also the major component in making tequila.  The controversy with Agave is if it can still be classified as “raw food” and if it is actually a “healthy” sweetener.  A thorough discussion can be found from Debra Lynn Dadd’s website.

Panela – a brownish block of sugar made from sugarcane but not refined or bleached.  Very popular in parts of Asia and in South America.  It has many variations to its name.

Maple syrup – Made from the sap of Maple trees.  It is also very high in fructose and very viscous.

Yacón Syrup is made from 100% Yacón root, a close relative of the Jerusalem artichoke.  The process to make yacon syrup involves juicing the yacon tubers and then concentrating the juice to about 50-60 Bx.  It is similar to Maple Syrup in colour, but 40% less calories than Maple Syrup and contains Soluble Fibre.  It is also considered to be Prebiotic.

Palm sugar is sometimes called coconut sugar.  However, there is a clear distinction between the two, based on where the sap was sourced.  By name, Palm sugar was originally made from the sugary sap of the Palmyra palm or the date palm. Now it is also made from the sap of the sago and coconut palms and labeled as “coconut sugar.”   It is not to be confused with sugar derived from the coconut fruit but rather from a palm tree variety called coconut palm.  The sugar is commonly used in Southeast Asian desserts.

Coconut Sugar or cocosugar is produced from the evaporation of coconut sap or sweet toddy through boiling in an open container, and then allowed to cool and solidify. It was tested to contain a low Glycemic index (GI) of 35 and a higher amount of nutrients compared to that of table sugar’s which is at 64-68.

Stevia has recently become very popular in North America.  In Asia particularly Japan, its use has been traced 30 years ago.   It is actually a member of the Chrysanthemum family.  It is remarkable since it is 300 times sweeter than sugar but does not provide any calories or carbohydrates therefore it does not cause blood sugar to rise.  The downside of stevia is that its perceived sweetness is much prolonged and there is also some bitterness detected.

The Glycemic Index (GI) of a particular food is a number that indicates how fast sugar is released into the blood after consumption or how fast a food is likely to raise your blood sugar.  The table below shows the various GI levels of these natural sweeteners, Gi levels at 55 and below are considered Low GI foods, High GI foods are 70 and above.

Natural Sweetener                           Average Glycemic Index (GI)
Yacon Syrup   1-3
Palm sugar   35
Coconut sugar from coconut fruit   35
Agave  11
Maple syrup   54-55
Glucose consumed with
15-20 grams of fiber  57-85
Panela  63
White refined sugar  68
Pure glucose    100