Key Interview: Cargill Targets New Routes in Sugar Reduction

27 Mar 2017 --- Clean label and sugar reduction are high on the agenda for many of today’s food manufacturers. Oliggo-Fiber chicory root fiber, from Cargill, is one potential solution to help food & beverage manufacturers capitalize on these key consumer trends. This ingredient is a naturally-sourced fructan, which is extracted from the chicory root. The versatile solution offers many functional product development benefits, as well as providing benefits to human health.

FoodIngredientsFirst caught up with Pam Stauffer, Global Marketing Programs Manager, Cargill who discussed the current market opportunities for this ingredient. “Cargill’s proprietary consumer research confirms that chicory root fiber is an extremely label friendly ingredient,” she explains. “Regarding sugar reduction, chicory root fiber can act as a pure bulking agent when removing sugar from a formulation. At Cargill, we generally recommend replacing sugar 1:1 with chicory root fiber. Native and shorter chain chicory root fiber ingredients will brown like sugar and also have a residual sweetness.”

Oliggo-Fiber chicory root fiber can be used in many applications, without affecting taste and texture. It has an excellent heat stability and can also be used as a partial replacement for flour. The ingredient Oliggo-Fiber is GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) and also meets kosher and halal standards. It does not contain GMOs or GMO-derived components and is not produced using GMO-based technology. “Chicory root fiber enables product innovation, by delivering on demand for both sugar reduction and clean label solutions,” Stauffer claims.

The FDA recently published two labeling regulations that will affect almost every product category in the food and supplement arena. The rule includes a new definition for dietary fiber, which defines it as either naturally occurring fibers that are intrinsic and intact in plants, or as isolated or synthetic fibers that have demonstrated a beneficial physiological effect. So far, FDA was able to assess certain fibers and grant dietary fibers status to a few of them. But chicory root inulin is still under review. FDA plans to issue guidance regarding the type of scientific evidence that they consider pertinent for the evaluation of beneficial physiological effects of isolated and synthetic fibers, however. 

In the US and Canada, Cargill is the distributor of Oliggo-Fiber chicory root fiber (inulin) which is manufactured by the Cosucra company, based in Belgium. The major producers of chicory root inulin have jointly submitted a Citizen Petition to the FDA. It calls for the addition of chicory inulin, encompassing all chicory inulin-type fructans, to the list of accepted dietary fibers in the US. “The rationale for this submission is to display the totality of pertinent data that convincingly shows the beneficial physiological effects of chicory root inulin,” Stauffer notes. 

“Given the wealth of data on chicory root inulin's beneficial physiological effects, the major inulin producers and Cargill are confident that the additional information supplied through the Citizen Petition will aid in the review and approval of inulin as a dietary fiber,” she says. 

Cargill's ViaTech stevia sweeteners also deliver a solution for both sugar reduction and clean label demand. With ViaTech, food and beverage manufacturers achieve optimal sweetness and significant sugar reduction in even the most challenging reduced and zero calorie formulations. 

Part of what sets the ViaTech portfolio apart from other stevia sweeteners is Cargill’s proprietary taste-prediction model, which can precisely predict which combination of steviol glycosides deliver optimal taste and sweetness. 

Cargill continues to expand their portfolio of ViaTech stevia sweeteners to meet a wide array of customer needs, including sugar reduction and the replacement of artificial high intensity sweeteners. 

According to Andrew Ohmes, Cargill’s Global Product Line Manager for High Intensity Sweeteners: “The improvement in sweetness quality of the ViaTech portfolio has enabled our application teams to develop great tasting reduced foods and beverages.” 

Ohmes also noted: “Meeting the demand for sugar reduction is an increasing opportunity for the stevia industry and for us at Cargill. The key is to reduce sugar and deliver great taste.”

Cargill has been actively working on sugar reduction with stevia for many years across multiple categories, including beverages, bakery, cereal and dairy products. Cargill’s ViaTech stevia portfolio has been designed to provide significant improvements in sweetness quality compared to traditional stevia leaf extracts. “This enables deeper levels of sugar reduction and has created opportunities for our customers to develop new products or reformulate existing products with these upcoming label changes in mind,” Ohmes tells FoodIngredientsFirst. 

Meanwhile, Stauffer confirms: “Non-GMO continues to be an important consideration for product developers. Cargill recently announced a number of ingredients that received Non-GMO Project Verified status, including Cargill’s stevia sweeteners and erythritol.”
 
This regulatory success opens up new doors to partner with customers that seek to satisfy consumer demand for the highly recognizable Non-GMO Project butterfly logo on packaging in addition to great-tasting sugar reduction. “Zerose erythritol is a great partner with high intensity sweeteners,” continues Stauffer, “It is a natural, zero calorie bulk sweetener that looks and tastes like sugar. It is ideal for food and beverage applications promoting sugar reduction and weight management, and masks the aftertaste of high-intensity sweeteners.”

She adds: “In addition, it offers significant advantages over other polyols, including a higher digestive tolerance and clinically proven dental health benefits.”

Cargill provides a broad portfolio of nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners, from sugar to stevia. “As demand for reduced-sugar foods and beverages increases, demand also increases for Cargill’s zero-calorie sweetener solutions – ViaTech stevia sweeteners & Zerose erythritol. ViaTech and Zerose used alone or in combination deliver great-tasting foods and beverages with significant sugar reduction,” she concludes. 

by Hannah Gardiner and Elizabeth Kenward