Consumer confusion over how best to reduce sugar in one’s diet persists. Are they still looking for ‘zero added sugar’ in sweet drinks? Regulatory and ingredients experts weigh in.
The UK’s soft drinks levy is responsible for a 5,500 fall in hospital admissions for tooth decay, according to research published by the BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health.
Australia’s Kommunity Brew believes that hemp has the potential to feature more widely in its NPD and innovation strategies, amidst the addition of more local acquisitions to its healthier beverage portfolio.
China energy beverage giant EastRoc will continue to use sugar as a primary ingredient in its best-selling products despite rising costs and a rapidly growing sugar-free trend in major cities.
In the upcoming webinar (airs 13 September), ConfectioneryNews will profile some of the key innovations in the sector that are being driven primarily by consumer trends. As R&D budgets are increased, we have seen ground-breaking innovations in the...
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is considering updating rules around voluntary nutrition claims for carbohydrates and sugar on alcoholic products, opening this to public comment until September.
Switching from sugary drinks to ‘diet’ drinks or water showed little short-term effects on metabolic or cognitive health outcomes across 12 weeks, a new study has shown.
Residents in Oakland, California have bought fewer sugary beverages since a local soda tax went into effect, says a study from UC San Francisco. The study also found savings in health care costs and compared them to other public health policies.
A recent study conducted by Singaporean researchers on the government’s Nutri-Grade front-of-package (FOP) beverage labelling scheme has concluded that more work needs to be done for it to make a positive impact on consumer dietary and purchasing choices.
Better Juice, an Israeli start-up, has used sugar reduction technology to lower the levels of sugar in its fruit juices, including, in a recent trial, several berry-based juices. Their technology is able to reduce three sugars found in fruit juices –...
How do sugar reduction strategies – such as low/no sugar products and reduced pack sizes – affect product sales? A new study explores how manufacturers can create ‘win-win-conditions’ in both reducing sugar and boosting sales.
Food tech startup Better Juice has opened its first full-scale manufacturing plant to enable commercial production of its patented sugar reduction technology, which can reduce sugar content in juice products by 30-80%.
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and the University of California Berkeley are investigating scalable methods of converting captured CO2 into sugar. The idea – which is already being developed separately with NASA for long-haul space missions – has the...
Daily consumption of two or more servings of sugar-sweetened beverages has been linked to a 50% increase in cardiovascular disease mortality among younger adults aged 20 to 39.
At a time when pushback against sugar is spurring large CPG players to exit the ready-to-drink smoothie and juice market by off-loading well-known brands, two best friends see an opening for a new line of produce-packed beverages positioned as having...
An Australian living in London has overcome an extraordinary set of challenges including Brexit, the pandemic and more recently a sharp rise in prices as a result of the war in Ukraine to keep his vitamin enhanced juice business thriving.
Brazil is introducing new labelling requirements that include the addition of front-of-pack warnings alerting consumers to high levels of added sugars, saturated fats and sodium. Arla Foods Ingredients says its whey permeate Variolac can stop brands falling...
While consumers may be searching for ways to reduce their sugar intake, products that provide a sense of sweetness are still in high-demand, positioning certain natural sweeteners for continued success, says SPINS.
Virginia-based Bonumose, Inc. said it has achieved regulatory and food application milestones in the US and Canada for the low-glycemic, rare sugar tagatose, as the company progresses on time and on schedule for the opening of its first commercial production...
Sixty per cent of packaged non-alcoholic beverages (NABs) sold on the Singapore market contain high amounts of sugar and would be assigned under Grade C or D in the soon-to-be-implemented Nutri-Grade system.
Researchers are calling on the beverage industry to close loopholes that allow limited advertising of sweetened beverages to children after discovering sales of children’s beverages with added sugar and non-nutritive sweeteners continue to outpace those...
PepsiCo has set out an ambition to cut the sugar in its drink brands and shift its snacks portfolio towards ‘healthier options’ in Europe. FoodNavigator hears more on how it plans to do just that.
Meat and dairy are regularly targeted for their environmental impact. In the UK, for example, the government’s Committee on Climate Change has recommended a 20% cut in meat and dairy by 2030, rising to 35% by 2050 for meat only. Sugar may be next, warns...
New research concludes women diagnosed with breast cancer are 85% more likely to die from the disease if they drink non-diet soda five or more times a week.
Taste and nutrition company Kerry has completed a life cycle assessment comparing the environmental impact of its Tastesense Sweet ingredient against the footprint of sugar. The result? “Reducing the consumption of sugar has impressive health and environmental...
A limited-supply Palate Training Kits released today from Icelandic skyr brand siggi’s takes an innovative approach to sugar reduction, which has gained prominence among consumers during the pandemic, but which continues to be stymied by taste and convenience...
Europe’s soft drinks industry has reduced added sugars in drinks by an average of 14.6% between 2015 and 2019; contributing to a reduction of 26% since 2000.
Fruit juice contains vitamins and other bioactive compounds. But it has also been called out for its sugar content. Fresh research from the EU fruit juice industry examines consumer attitudes to juice and its healthy associations.
The Singapore Food Manufacturers' Association (SFMA) has launched a new Sugar Smart Challenge 2020, a year-long project which aims to develop and commercialised reduced sugar or sugar substitute ingredients as well as finished products.
Chinese tea brand, Nayuki is betting on consumers’ increasing health awareness to drive the sales of its ‘healthier’ sugar-free and fruit tea series in China.
Sugary drink consumption in Chile fell nearly a quarter after the country introduced a raft of regulatory measures on foods high in sugar, fat, salt and calorie content. The affect was slightly greater among middle and high socioeconomic groups.
Coca-Cola New Zealand have announced a goal to reduce the amount of sugar in its beverages by 20% by 2025, including Sprite, Fanta, Powerade, Kiwi Blue water, Pump, Keri Juice as well as its Coca-Cola range.
One of the easiest ways to reduce sugar is to replace it with sweeteners – but research from Netherlands-based research group NIZO suggests aromas can be leveraged as an alternative path to sugar reduction.
Popular RTD cocktails and pre-mixed spirits contain ‘unnecessarily high and hidden sugar and calories’, according to UK campaign group Action on Sugar. It says such drinks should reformulate in line with the parameters set out by the sugar tax - or else...
Fruit-based syrups, enriched with inulin fiber and diluted with water, are an ideal way to get Chileans to drink less sugary soda, says French-Chilean start-up Siröpa that wants to create a new category in the country.
England’s outgoing Chief Medical Officer says the Soft Drinks Industry Levy has been successful in reducing sugar in children’s drinks: and is calling for the levy to be extended to milk-based drinks.
Public Health England’s latest progress report on the food and drink industry’s sugar cutting efforts reveal significant changes in areas where the sugar tax applies, but a disappointing lack of progress with the voluntary sugar reduction programme.
Brazilian juice giant Citrosuco will commercialize a novel process that uses non-GM enzymes to cut the sugar in orange juice, achieving up to 80% reductions.
A New Zealand study has revealed that sugar-sweetened beverages appears to contain higher health risks than sugar-containing foods, especially when it comes to metabolic syndrome development.
A recent study has found coffee and tea to be the top source of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) for Taiwanese adolescents, in addition to higher health and nutritional risks.
A meta-analysis has found that a 10% tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) has cut down purchases and consumption by an average of 10% in places where a tax has been introduced, according to researchers from the University of Otago in Wellington, New...
The amount of sugar- and artificially sweetened beverages sold in Philadelphia dropped by half during the first year in which the city’s controversial tax on the beverages was in effect, according to a study published earlier this month in JAMA.
The rare sugar nigerose can now be “easily” produced via a process that “can readily be scaled up for potential industrial purposes,” claims a breakthrough study.
Reformulating products to reduce sugar can be a costly process. While the impact of sugar taxes on consumer behaviour is a moot point, they do provide the food sector with a financial incentive to trigger change.
