USA – Global ingredient solutions provider, Ingredion has announced that it has entered into a partnership with Japan’s leading producer of specialty ingredients, Matsutani Chemical Industry Co. to unveil a ‘calorie-reducing’ allulose sweetener in America.
Matsutani will manufacture the new product, Astraea Allulose in Mexico and market it across the Americas starting 2019.
With wide applications in beverages, dairy, bakery and confectionery, the product allows food and beverage manufacturers reduce calories from sucrose and other caloric sweeteners in a wide range of products.
The company said the new range supports its goal to grow its specialties business to US$2 billion in annual sales by 2022.
“Reducing sucrose is an emerging global trend and can be a challenge for manufacturers,who are looking to match the sweet taste of sugar while achieving the same functional benefits in their products,” said Tony DeLio, senior vice president of corporate strategy and chief innovation officer at Ingredion.
“By combining our manufacturing network and global footprint alongside Matsutani’s pioneering work in rare sugars, we will bring exciting opportunities grounded in innovation to meet the needs of the evolving food industry ahead of sugar labeling changes.”
Astraea Allulose is a sweetener closer to sucrose in terms of taste and functionality and falls in the family of rare sugars.
Contrary to sucrose, it is absorbed by the body but not metabolized, making it nearly calorie-free and exists in nature in small quantities in certain fruits,including figs, raisins and jackfruit.
Allulose has a texture and performance behavior similar to sucrose providing comparable bulk, sweetness and functionality (e.g., browning, freeze point depression).
These properties make allulose an ideal ingredient for formulators as they look for ways to reduce calories from sucrose in the products they develop.
“Matsutani spent more than 15 years developing, researching and refining the world’s first rare sugars including Astraea Allulose,” said Yoshinobu Matsutani, executive vice president at Matsutani.
“Matsutani has also produced more clinical studies and conducted more research on rare sugars than any other allulose supplier.
We are excited to see Ingredion bring Astraea Allulose to food and beverage formulators across the Americas.”
For Ingredion, Allulose is an addition to a wide range of sugar reduction solutions which include naturally based stevia leaf sweeteners, specialty polyols,low-sugar glucose syrups and short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides.
