New Zealand company BioVittoria says it will be applying for EU regulatory approval of its proprietary monk fruit concentrate Fruit-Sweetness in the near future.
Monk fruits are grown in southern China and have been used as sweeteners in traditional medicines for hundreds of years (Fig. 1). BioVittoria has transformed the monk fruit industry through advances in plant varieties, seedling cultivation, growing methods and fruit processing. Naturally-occurring compounds in the fruits are up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, meaning that a gram of Fruit-Sweetness can replace eight teaspoons of sugar.
"Fruit-Sweetness has a number of significant differentiating features compared to Reb-A (sweet compounds in the the stevia plant). The fact that Fruit-Sweetness is made from fruit using a simple concentration process is important. Our consumer testing with mothers showed that fruit is a preferred and trusted source for natural, healthy sweetness. In the focus groups we conducted we found that mothers were very accepting of and very excited about fruit-sourced natural sweetness without calories," said Paul Paslaski, BioVittoria vice president of sales and marketing.
"The other key difference is taste. Reb-A is known to have taste and formulation challenges including lingering bitter off-notes. This is not found in Fruit-Sweetness. Independent expert taste panel testing has shown Fruit-Sweetness to have a preferred sweetness profile to Reb-A. The same work also showed that a blend of Reb-A and Fruit-Sweetness tastes better than Reb-A by itself, which is another option for formulators," he added.
Since the company received its 'no objection' letter from the US FDA in January of this year it has had phenomenal interest in Fruit-Sweetness. A number of products incorporating Fruit-Sweetness have already been launched in the US, and there are projects underway making use of it at most of the world's largest food and beverage companies.
Paslaski also says that Fruit-Sweetness is a very versatile ingredient: "In the technical work we have done we have found it performs very well in most food and beverage systems. Better-for-you and every-day, all-family food and beverage categories such as juice drinks, enhanced waters, powdered drinks, ready-to-drink tea, flavoured milk, yoghurt, and breakfast cereals are of particular interest and are where Fruit-Sweetness can add significant value by offering the consumer a naturally sweetened product with fewer calories and an improved nutritional profile. There are also significant opportunities in confectionary categories such as gum which is already largely sugar-free, and of course carbonated soft drinks."
Meanwhile Givaudan has developed a novel sensory language called Sense It Salt which enables a more accurate description of the complex taste effects of salt in foods. The company says that Sense It Salt will enhance its ability to create flavours that restore the taste aspects of salt and drive consumer preference in low sodium applications.
"It is now well understood in the food industry that salt is a very efficient and complex taste enhancer that goes beyond just making food taste salty. Salt has a range of taste effects over time which we have named 'The Salt Curve'," says Laith Wahbi, global product manager, savoury.
Using sensory panels of trained tasters, Givaudan has demonstrated that the taste effects of salt can be broken down into distinct temporal phases which strongly influence the flavour profile of the food product application being developed.
"We saw that the taste profile changed across the salt curve and concluded that the term 'salty' was no longer sufficient to describe the taste effects of salt or what happens sensorially when it is added, removed or replaced," says Sophie Davodeau, global head of sensory. "The development of Givaudan's Sense It Salt language allows us to accurately assess the consequences of reducing salt and the performance of flavours or ingredients that are used to restore the taste of low sodium products."
Sense It Salt was developed using a global team of flavourists, application technologists and sensory scientists and is now fully integrated into the overall Sense It language that includes more than 350 descriptors with references covering aroma, taste and mouthfeel.
This sensory knowledge, combined with its expertise in salt enhancement technology will further strengthen Givaudan's TasteSolutions Salt capabilities to guide product development when collaborating with customers on sodium reduction projects.
"Reducing salt is no longer a trend, it is a game-changer where nutritional quality and 'healthiness' is a key factor in product development," adds Wahbi. "We see Sense It Salt as a real breakthrough in addressing the industry-wide need to reduce salt."
Through TasteSolutions Salt and the Sense It Salt language, Givaudan is partnering with customers to reduce sodium levels in a range of applications - soups, sauces and snacks, ready-meals and cereals - without compromising on taste. The company is also closely following and preparing for changes in individual countries' regulatory regimes with regard to sodium content, partnering with food manufacturers to think ahead and help them succeed in the market under these new stricter regimes.
Starbucks has announced the next step in building the instant coffee category with the introduction of Starbucks VIA Flavored Coffee in US and Canadian stores. Just one year since the launch, the Starbucks VIA Ready Brew portfolio will now include four natural flavours - vanilla, mocha, caramel and cinnamon spice.
Starbucks says it is the first nationally branded flavoured coffee in the US to use only natural flavours and other natural ingredients and currently offers Starbucks Natural Fusions, a line of naturally flavoured ground coffees, at select grocery stores in the US.
"We know 60 per cent of our customers drink coffee with flavour, and now they will have access to high-quality arabica coffees with natural flavours as only Starbucks can deliver," said Annie Young-Scrivner, Starbucks chief marketing officer. "The launch of Starbucks VIA Flavored Coffees demonstrates our drive to inject innovation into the coffee category."
The company has spent years looking for high-quality natural ingredients to combine with natural flavourings and our arabica coffee to get the perfect cup of coffee. The introduction of these two distinctively different natural flavoured coffee lines, instant and ground, is part of its overall business strategy to grow its consumer products and retail businesses.
Finally Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) featured its new sorghum flour in a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie at the 2010 International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) in Las Vegas at the end of September. Visitors to ADM's booth also had the opportunity to learn about sorghum flour and other ADM flours and milled products, cocoa and chocolate ingredients, and VegeFull cooked bean ingredients. The gluten-free chocolate chip cookie that ADM exhibited during IBIE used the company's new sorghum flour and VegeFull bean powder in place of wheat flour, as well as ADM's Ambrosia chocolate chips."
