Farbest Brands says it is proud to offer FarSweet, a Non-GMO Project Verified crystalline fructose. FarSweet is a nutritive sweetener produced in Turkey using Non-GMO corn. FarSweet is manufactured to follow the latest clean-label trends in a wide range of dairy applications. This label-friendly crystalline fructose is a great option in appealing to health-conscious consumers. FarSweet has the ability to enhance flavor without formulation impact while reducing calories and minimizing usage of other ingredients. FarSweet is competitively priced and features kosher and halal certifications.

To showcase the potential for reduced-sugar dairy and dairy-alternative products, Cargill says it created a range of prototypes using its EverSweet stevia sweetener. Made via fermentation, EverSweet harnesses stevia’s sweetest compounds, Reb M and Reb D, to deliver a more rounded taste profile with a faster onset of sweetness — enabling up to 100% sugar replacement. As a result, Cargill has successfully used the sustainably sourced, zero-calorie sweetener to create great-tasting flavored milks and creamers, yogurts, ice creams and frozen desserts for both dairy and plant-based applications.

According to Brenntag, there is a growing awareness from consumers about the health impact of empty calories, added sugar and nonfamiliar ingredients in food products. Companies are eager to find solutions offering a clean, sweet taste that contribute a limited number of calories while imparting a consumer-friendly ingredient statement. Finished goods with high sugar content can have certain functionalities that make replacing sugar a challenge. Non-nutritive natural sweeteners such as stevia and monk fruit can be blended with other calorie-conscious natural sweetening bulking agents such as erythritol and allulose to deliver a 1:1 sugar replacement. These blends are important in maintaining the functionality of products in the dairy industry.

ASR Group’s Sweet Essence M, a high-potency Reb-M sweetener, is made by the fermentation of sugarcane. The process produces a sweet, clean-tasting non-GMO sweetener that provides up to 350 times the sweetness of sugar. Sweet Essence M is made from sugarcane, not the stevia plant, and it is used to sweeten reduced-calorie and sugar-free foods and beverages. ASR Group says Sweet Essence M sugarcane Reb-M allows the ingredient to be available at very high purity and a reasonable price. Combine Sweet Essence M sugarcane Reb-M with ASR Group’s range of distillates for even more powerful sugar-reduction possibilities.

According to National Honey Board, honey is Mother Nature’s sweetener — it moves straight from the flower to the bee to product formulations in the food and beverage industry. It’s an all-natural sweetener with a complex composition of carbohydrates, acids, minerals, antioxidants, vitamins and prebiotics. Honey plays an essential role in new product development in many categories. The ingredient provides flavor, functionality and marketability to consumers craving foods made with familiar, all-natural ingredients.

Monk Fruit Corp. says it is the world’s leading supplier of monk fruit ingredients — with a market share that is about four times its nearest competitor. Monk Fruit Corp. offers the widest range of monk fruit ingredients, including monk fruit juice concentrate and monk fruit extract. Monk fruit is rapidly becoming the preferred solution for natural sugar reduction because of its clean flavor profile with no bitter aftertaste and its consumer-friendly ingredient labelling. Monk fruit is found in a wide range of dairy applications, where it is used to reduce or replace sugar to deliver great-tasting better-for-you dairy products.

With one in three light ice cream consumers finding low/no calories and zero added sugar to be important attributes (according to a 2020 Ingredion Incorporated proprietary study), it is more important than ever for manufacturers to formulate reduced-sugar options. How can you create the taste and mouthfeel consumers want and get the functional properties you need? Ingredion says its Astraea allulose provides freeze-point depression in ice cream and frozen dairy desserts and doesn’t contribute to crystallization in high-solids fruit preps. It also helps low-sugar dairy-based products maintain the mouthfeel and indulgence consumers expect.

International Food Products Corporation (IFPC) says it released LegacySweet — a complete assortment of sweetener ingredient blends, including sucralose, sugar replacers and sugar reducers. IFPC’s research and development team identified the benefits of a variety of sweeteners. Blending at appropriate ratios to create harmony and eliminate off-notes, IFPC’s scientists work with flavors, maskers and texturizers to modify the taste. The sweetener systems use technology that makes products more appealing to the end consumer. The ingredients in the LegacySweet brand are designed to help manufacturers get new products to shelf faster, with greater ease, and are easily converted to a custom blend. Email info@ifpc.com for more information.

As plant-based sugar alternatives, stevia sweeteners deliver on clean-label needs and great taste. Tate & Lyle says its Greenesse 60 stevia sweetener is a cost-effective solution for lower levels of sugar replacement and can be used as a natural flavor. In a low-fat chocolate milk example, Greenesse 60 helps provide the flavor benefits of stevia while allowing for potential cost savings and sugar reduction over a full sugar formulation, all without having to change the ingredient statement. Contact Tate & Lyle to connect with one of its dairy application experts.

Sugarright L350 liquid cane sugar is an economical and sustainable alternative to traditional water white liquid sugar. Innovative companies modified their decades-old liquid sugar color specifications when they discovered that darker color options have no significant impact on the color or flavor of their finished products. Sugaright says L350 has become the ingredient of choice for use in ice cream, yogurt and plant-based beverages, among others. Fair trade, Bonsucro and Non-GMO Project Verified options are available to meet the sustainability demands of customers.