Tagatose from ASR Group is a plant-based rare sugar monosaccharide that has attained GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status under FDA regulations and is ideal for dairy applications. It is in the same family as allulose, but with important functional differences, ASR Group says. Tagatose is 92% as sweet as sucrose, but adds only 1.5 kilocalories/gram. It is suitable in almost any application where sugar is used, especially in ice cream, where a taste profile similar to sucrose can be attained. It is associated with a better texture and stability than products made with erythritol or allulose. Tagatose can be combined with one of the company’s sugar distillates to further optimize the sweetness profile.

Tate & Lyle’s Dolcia Prima allulose syrup provides bulk and sweetness similar to sugar. Because of its sugar-like taste and performance, it can be used in a wide range of applications requiring a reduction of sugar and calories, Tate & Lyle notes. Applications include dairy and frozen dairy, among others. The company’s long-standing understanding of sweeteners and its broad portfolio have given it unique expertise in sweetening — and sugar and calorie reduction in particular. Tate & Lyle offers both conventional and non-GMO Dolcia Prima allulose syrup options.

Sugaright’s L350 liquid cane sugar is an economical and sustainable alternative to traditional water-white liquid sugar. Darker color options have no significant impact on the color or flavor of the finished products, and Sugaright L350 has become an ingredient of choice for use in ice cream and yogurt products, among others, the company says. Fairtrade, Bonsucro and Non-GMO Project Verified options are available to meet the sustainability demands of customers.

Resugar delivers an all-natural, 100% sugar-like substitute that tastes and behaves identically to sugar, without any of sugar’s harmful health effects. The company’s Resugar Kit offers food and beverage manufacturers a 1:1 sugar replacement with no need to reformulate their products’ recipes. With 70%-80% less sugar content and 50%-100% fewer calories, manufacturers no longer need to compromise on taste or on the industrial properties they rely on from sugar, the company says. The Resugar product is plant-based and non-GMO and has a low glycemic index. It is commercialized with Nestlé/Froneri in a new premium ice cream line with just 99 calories per bar.

In the dairy industry, honey’s use as a sweetener delivers dual functionalities: flavor and marketability, the National Honey Board notes. As Mother Nature’s true natural sweetener, honey flavors yogurts, milks and ice creams with a complex sweetness that complements both sweet and savory applications. Most importantly, honey sweetens dairy products with a familiar ingredient that consumers know and love. Honey’s popular iconography such as honey bees, honeycomb and honey dippers can adorn packaging graphics and give dairy products a competitive edge in crowded dairy cases.

Monk Fruit Corp. says it has seen the monk fruit ingredient market growing at a double-digit pace over the past few years, driven by increasing global demand for great-tasting, better-for-you products with reduced sugar and fewer calories. Monk fruit extract and monk fruit juice concentrate have been essential tools for product developers to transition consumers into lower-calorie, reduced-sugar products without compromising taste. While monk fruit delivers value as a sugar replacer, it also plays an important role in modulating flavor, allowing formulators to achieve both sweetness and an improved flavor profile in food and beverage products.

For dairy milk consumers who are actively reducing sugar in their diets, the considerable amount of naturally occurring sugar in dairy products no longer needs to be a barricade. A longtime ingredient supplier to the dairy industry, International Food Products Corp. offers its LegacySweet systems to help dairy processors that are looking to reduce or replace the sugar content in their milks and other dairy beverages. These proprietary systems contain blends of natural sweeteners, including monk fruit, stevia, sucralose and erythritol, the company says.

Global Organics now offers Regenerative Organic Certified cane sugar. Its longtime partner and supplier, Natíve, is the first sugar producer to earn the Regenerative Organic certification. By focusing on soil health and biodiversity, integrating sustainability at all levels of operations and ensuring social fairness to farm workers, Natíve’s Green Cane Project has been long recognized as the model for sustainability, Global Organics says. Natíve sugar products include organic granulated cane sugar and organic demerara sugar, a raw sugar extracted from sugarcane.

FarSweet is a Non-GMO Project Verified crystalline fructose from Farbest that easily replaces other crystalline fructose in formulations while improving the sweetness, texture and mouthfeel of dairy products and other foods and beverages. Featuring kosher and halal certifications, it enhances flavor while reducing calories and minimizing the use of other ingredients, Farbest says. This label-friendly crystalline fructose is competitively priced and a great option for health-conscious consumers.

Cargill’s sweetener system, EverSweet + ClearFlo, brings together the company’s premier stevia sweetener with a natural flavor in a combination that offers wide-ranging benefits, including flavor modification and enhanced mouthfeel, improved solubility and stability in formulations, and faster dissolution. In no-sugar-added chocolate milk, Cargill’s sensory testing found EverSweet + ClearFlo enhances the chocolate flavor profile and provides a creamier, more indulgent mouthfeel. In yogurt fruit preparations, it delivers a sweetness profile that lets fruit flavors shine, the company says. Cargill reports similar flavor and mouthfeel improvements in plant-based dairy alternative ice creams, where EverSweet + ClearFlo reduced the off-notes associated with pea protein without muting the system’s characterizing flavors.

ADM’s GrainSweet glucose-fructose syrup is a sucrose alternative that brings sweetness, functionality and cost optimization to dairy applications such as flavored milks and ice creams. This proprietary specialty syrup helps brands remain competitive while adhering to restrictions and limiting high-fructose corn syrup in formulations, the company says. With favorable consumer perceptions and superior functionality, it is a 1:1 replacement and gives dairy brands a solution to balance both consumer and business demands.