Ingredion unveils latest generation stevia sweeteners for confectionery

A key new advanced stevia-based sweetening solution has been unveiled from the Ingredion group, known as PureCircle Clean Taste Solutions, claiming zero calories as a core feature, writes Neill Barston.

The company’s latest series, which is said to have a broad range of applications including across confectionery markets, comes amid a major continued shift in consumer preferences towards better-for-your product ranges within sweets and snacks.

As its development teams explained, its latest series is also considered to have strong potential for additional markets including bakery, dairy and sports nutrition segments to name a few, with its formulation said to be able to make greater use of stevia plants.

“Removing sugar and artificial sweeteners in product formulation is not one-size-fits-all,” said Nate Yates, global platform lead for sugar reduction at Ingredion. “PureCircle Clean Taste Solutions are designed to streamline product formulation by delivering unique sweetness profiles required by food and beverage brands. Our team of experts helps our customers to develop the best sweetening experience and quickly bring them to market.

“It is widely acknowledged Reb M is the best tasting glycoside on the market, but what we’ve seen is there is no one universal stevia solution across food and beverage categories,” Yates continued. “These stevia solutions go one step further by harnessing more of the synergies between molecules in the stevia leaf, including Reb M, to create the best possible taste outcome for specific applications for up to 100% sugar reduction.”

As the company noted, there have been significant advancements in stevia sweeteners in recent years to improve taste performance, sustainability and availability of rare stevia molecules. PureCircle is the world’s leading producer and innovator of stevia ingredients, and is the only stevia supplier to offer all of the major stevia production technologies.

Furthermore, last year, the business published a peer-reviewed lifecycle assessment, which demonstrated the sustainability advantages of stevia when compared to other sweeteners like sugar on a sweetness equivalence basis.