Danisco launches Xivia xylitol

5 October 2010 – Danisco has announced the launch of a new brand of sugar, Xivia, manufactured from the company’s sustainable wood based integration concept.

According to the Danish manufacturer, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the production of Xivia using the wood based concept produced only 16 per cent of the environmental impact associated with the production of the natural sugar, xylitol, using corn cobs and biomass hydrolysis.

The environmental impacts of 1000 kg of crystalline xylitol manufactured using both methods were analysed in the LCA. “Environmental impacts associated with xylitol production using corn cob and the biomass concept are worse for all of the 15 environmental impact categories analysed in the study”, says James Dedman, business director, polyols at Danisco.

“Interestingly, the study also concludes that the superior environmental performance of the DWB concept cannot simply be attributed to the use of the wood pulp side stream as raw material,” Dedman explains. “This could be particularly meaningful for consumer products with a high dosage of xylitol, such as sugar free chewing gum and confectionery,” comments Stéphane Constant, executive vice president, Sweeteners Division.