Clean label sweetening with erythritol

By Ferid Haji, Product Manager Sweeteners at Jungbunzlauer International AG

Jungbunzlauer’s erythritol, recently approved all over Europe [1], is a sugar alcohol that is low in calories, very tolerable in its digestion compared to other sugar alcohols and all-natural. With European food legislation changes ahead, erythritol opens new opportunities in clean label sugar reduction.

Today’s food legislation still has some hurdles for erythritol to take before it can claim to be a clean label sugar replacer. The energy conversion factor is 2.4 kcal/ g, the laxative warning is mandatory and it is not approved for use in beverages. But the first major change in the legislation lies ahead.

First hurdle is about to be crossed
The true calorie load of erythritol lies far below the standard polyol value of 2.4 kcal/g. Actually it is close to zero. After ongoing efforts to change the EU regulations accordingly first drafts with a conversion factor of 0.0 kcal/g are available, a proposal which is backed up by scientific literature and the opinion of the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Food. The results of stakeholder discussions are awaited with suspense. Once passed, the new regulation will herald the formation of a new group of sweeteners, currently consisting of only erythritol: all-natural and delivering no calories.

What distinguishes erythritol from other polyols is the metabolic behaviour due to the small molecule size. While all other polyols have the distinct disadvantage of causing digestive distress, erythritol is well-tolerated. Scientific studies show that at typical consumption levels, erythritol has no laxative effect. The key factor in erythritol’s high level of digestive tolerance is its small molecular size. This allows it to be absorbed quickly in the upper digestive tract, so that very small amounts reach the lower tract – where degradation of polyols and osmotic effects would normally cause gastric distress. [2] Based on the scientific evidence available, an exemption for the laxative warning (mandatory for foods containing more than 10% of polyols) is justified and Jungbunzlauer dedicates effort to achieve a change in the current legislation.

All natural
Alongside health, “natural” is one of the main trends we see in the modern food industry. Consumers are not only interested in the “health factor” of their foods – mainly with regard to calorie and sugar content – but are increasingly concerned about how natural their food is and where it comes from. Recent crisis’ and scandals in different parts of the world played an important role for this development.

Jungbunzlauer’s erythritol, a naturally-occurring sugar alcohol (or polyol), has been commonly used as food ingredient in the US and Japan for many years. Since the middle of February this year, it has also been fully approved across Europe for use in food products [1]. Currently, erythritol is the only low calorie, natural sweetener anywhere in the world enjoying this regulatory status.

Erythritol is derived via a natural fermentation process, rather than from catalytic hydrogenation. On an industrial scale, erythritol is obtained from microbial yeast fermentation. Based on non-GMO natural plant carbohydrates such as sugar or glucose, fermentation of erythritol is completely natural. This provides erythritol with an outstanding position amongst other sugar replacers on the market.

In nature, erythritol occurs in items such as grapes, soy sauce, wine, honey and even cheese. This means that consumers are physically used to it and that the likelihood of allergies is low.

Natural erythritol occurrence in foods [3]

More valuable nutritional properties
The nutritional value of carbohydrates has been the subject of great debate over many years. However, what remains is an awareness of the importance of the glycemic index (GI) of food products, the measure of its impact on the body’s blood sugar level. Glucose is used as a reference point with a GI of 100. High GI carbohydrates enter the bloodstream very quickly, and thus cause a rapid rise and sudden drop in blood sugar and insulin levels. Low GI substances, on the other hand, do not have such an impact on blood glucose levels. Erythritol has a GI of zero, which means that it does not have any impact on blood sugar levels and does not initiate any insulinemic response. It is scarcely metabolized, almost 80% of erythritol is excreted via the kidneys within the first 24 hours after ingestion. Erythritol can therefore improve the nutritional profile of end products targeting health conscious consumers. Also for people with diabetes, who need to monitor their glycemic load closely, erythritol opens up a world of indulgent foods – free from worry. [4, 5]

Taste comes first
There is no doubt that today, health is a decisive factor in any food product’s success. However, the main influence on sustainable market acceptance has always been the taste profile of a food – if it does not taste good, the consumer will not buy the product again, regardless of its nutritional value. The main challenge for food manufacturers therefore lies in connecting health to an appealing overall taste. This challenge is especially evident in the realm of sugar replacement, since sugar is more than just a sweetener. As well as adding sweetness to a product, sugar supplies bulk, determines mouthfeel, texture, as well as overall appearance, and has a major influence on the taste profile of a product. With characteristics very close to those of sucrose, erythritol from Jungbunzlauer takes on all of these relevant properties of sugar in a formulation.

Erythritol has a clean sweet taste and a sensory profile very similar to that of sucrose. With a sweetening power of about 70% of sucrose, it is sweeter than most other polyols. Thus in many applications, erythritol can stand alone as a single sweetener. In addition, it is also a very good blending partner.

It is common knowledge that a well-balanced sweetener blend can come even closer to replicating sugar than a single sweetener, and various tests have been carried out in this area, with interesting results. Erythritol has been found to be ideal for blending with High Intensity Sweeteners (HIS), displaying remarkable synergistic effects in terms of both quality and quantity. In blends, erythritol improves the overall performance significantly. Compared to commonly used High Intensity Sweetener blends, those containing erythritol achieve outstanding taste results, without any side- or after-taste problems.

For completely natural blends, fructose and inulin have proven to be very good blending partners for erythritol. Once steviosides make their way into the range of approved sweeteners another natural sweetening option with very interesting features can be blended with erythritol.

Either as single sweetener or in blends erythritol is suitable for a wide variety of applications. Amongst these are sugar-free chewing gum, table top sweeteners, cereal bars and even sugar-free/sugar reduced chocolate. Furthermore, it provides a healthy, low-calorie method of sweetening dairy products such as ice creams and yogurts.

Erythritol is part of Jungbunzlauer’s “Healthy Choices” range. This range of health promoting ingredients also includes several high purity organic mineral salts as well as the new patent-pending salt substitute sub4salt ® and addresses the top health trends: mineral fortification, sugar replacement and salt substitution.

References:
[1] Directive 2006/52/EC of the European Parliament and of the council amending Directive 95/2/EC on food additives other than colours and sweeteners and Directive 94/35/EC on sweeteners for use in foodstuffs
[2] Livesay G., ‘Tolerance of low-digestible carbohydrates: a general view’, British Journal of Nutrition (2001), 85, Suppl. 1, S7–S16
[3] Goossens J, Gonze M. (1996), ’Nutritional properties and applications of erythritol: A unique combination?’ in Grenby T.H. (ED) “Advances in Sweeteners”, Bodmin, Blackie A&P, pp. 150-186.
[4] Bornet F.R.J et al., ‘Plasma and urine kinetics of erythritol after oral ingestion by healthy humans’, Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, 1996a, 24 (2, Part 2), S280 – S285
[5] Arrigoni et al., ‘Human gut microbiota does not ferment erythritol’ British Journal of Nutrition, 2005, 94, pp643-646