Sugar replacers: from technological challenges to consequences on health

Effect of different sweeteners on the thermal, rheological, and water mobility properties of soft wheat flour and their application to cookies as an alternative to sugar

The effects of different sweeteners on the physicochemical properties of soft wheat flour were investigated mainly in terms of thermal, rheological, and water mobility features, and their feasibilities as an alternative to sugar were evaluated in the cookie system. Kestose significantly reduced the solvent retention capacity of wheat flour, followed by sucrose, fructose, and allulose. Thermal analysis showed that the sucrose and kestose distinctly led to an increase in the gelatinization temperature of wheat flour, which was explained by lower T2 relaxation times. In addition, the pasting viscosities and thermo-mechanical properties of wheat flour containing kestose became lower compared to allulose, and these differences were morphologically confirmed by the real-time microscopic measurements during heating. Furthermore, when the sweeteners were incorporated into the cookie formulations, kestose played a positive role as a sugar replacer in the cookie system by presenting a comparable spread factor, texture, and color to cookies with sucrose.

Applications of Bacillus subtilis Protein Display for Medicine, Catalysis, Environmental Remediation, and Protein Engineering

Bacillus subtilis spores offer several advantages that make them attractive for protein display. For example, protein folding issues associated with unfolded polypeptide chains crossing membranes are circumvented. In addition, they can withstand physical and chemical extremes such as heat, desiccation, radiation, ultraviolet light, and oxidizing agents. As a result, the sequence of the displayed protein can be easily obtained even under harsh screening conditions. Next, immobilized proteins have many economic and technological advantages. They can be easily separated from the reaction and the protein stability is increased in harsh environments. In traditional immobilization methods, proteins are expressed and purified and then they are attached to a matrix. In contrast, immobilization occurs naturally during the sporulation process. They can be easily separated from the reaction and the protein stability is increased in harsh environments. Spores are also amenable to high-throughput screening for protein engineering and optimization. Furthermore, they can be used in a wide array of biotechnological and industrial applications such as vaccines, bioabsorbants to remove toxic chemicals, whole-cell catalysts, bioremediation, and biosensors. Lastly, spores are easily produced in large quantities, have a good safety record, and can be used as additives in foods and drugs.

Conditioned preference and avoidance induced in mice by the rare sugars isomaltulose and allulose

Isomaltulose, a slowly digested isocaloric analog of sucrose, and allulose, a noncaloric fructose analog, are promoted as "healthful" sugar alternatives in human food products. Here we investigated the appetite and preference conditioning actions of these sugar analogs in inbred mouse strains. In brief-access lick tests (Experiment 1), C57BL/6 (B6) mice showed similar concentration dependent increases in licking for allulose and fructose, but less pronounced concentration-dependent increases in licking for isomaltulose than sucrose. In Experiment 2, B6 male were given one-bottle training with a CS+ flavor (e.g., grape) mixed with 8% isomaltulose or allulose and a CS- flavor (e.g., cherry) mixed in water followed by two-bottle CS flavor tests. The isomaltulose mice showed only a weak CS+ flavor preference but a strong preference for the sugar over water. The allulose mice strongly preferred the CS- flavor and water over the sugar. The allulose avoidance may be due to gut discomfort as reported in humans consuming high amounts of the sugar. Experiment 3 found that the preference for 8% sucrose over 8% isomaltulose could be reversed or blocked by adding different concentrations of a noncaloric sweetener mixture (sucralose + saccharin, SS) to the isomaltulose. Experiment 4 revealed that the preference of B6 or FVB/N mice for isomaltulose+0.01%SS or sucrose over 0.1%SS increased after separate experience with the sugars and SS. This indicates that isomaltulose, like sucrose, has postoral appetition effects that enhances the appetite for the sugar. In Experiments 5 and 6, the appetition actions of the two sugars were directly compared by giving mice isomaltulose+0.05%SS vs. sucrose choice tests before and after separate experience with the two sugars. In general, the initial preference the mice displayed for isomaltulose+0.05%SS was reduced or reversed after separate experience with the two sugars although some strain and sex differences were obtained. This indicates that isomaltulose has weaker postoral appetition effects than sucrose.

SuperNatural 3.0-a database of natural products and natural product-based derivatives

Natural products (NPs) are single chemical compounds, substances or mixtures produced by a living organism - found in nature. Evolutionarily, NPs have been used as healing agents since thousands of years and still today continue to be the most important source of new potential therapeutic preparations. Natural products have played a key role in modern drug discovery for several diseases. Furthermore, following consumers' increasing demand for natural food ingredients, many efforts have been made to discover natural low-calorie sweeteners in recent years. SuperNatural 3.0 is a freely available database of natural products and derivatives. The updated version contains 449 058 natural compounds along with their structural and physicochemical information. Additionally, information on pathways, mechanism of action, toxicity, vendor information if available, drug-like chemical space prediction for several diseases as antiviral, antibacterial, antimalarial, anticancer, and target specific cells like the central nervous system (CNS) are also provided for the natural compounds. The updated version of the database also provides a valuable pool of natural compounds in which potential highly sweet compounds are expected to be found. The possible taste profile of the natural compounds was predicted using our published VirtualTaste models. The SuperNatural 3.0 database is freely available via http://bioinf-applied.charite.de/supernatural_3, without any login or registration.

The sensory properties and metabolic impact of natural and synthetic sweeteners

The global rise in obesity, type II diabetes, and other metabolic disorders in recent years has been attributed in part to the overconsumption of added sugars. Sugar reduction strategies often rely on synthetic and naturally occurring sweetening compounds to achieve their goals, with popular synthetic sweeteners including saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame potassium, aspartame, sucralose, neotame, alitame, and advantame. Natural sweeteners can be further partitioned into nutritive, including polyols, rare sugars, honey, maple syrup, and agave, and nonnutritive, which include steviol glycosides and rebaudiosides, luo han guo (monk fruit), and thaumatin. We choose the foods we consume largely on their sensory properties, an area in which these sugar substitutes often fall short. Here, we discuss the most popular synthetic and natural sweeteners, with the goal of providing an understanding of differences in the sensory profiles of these sweeteners versus sucrose, that they are designed to replace, essential for the effectiveness of sugar reduction strategies. In addition, we break down the influence of these sweeteners on metabolism, and present results from a large survey of consumers' opinions on these sweeteners. Consumer interest in clean label foods has driven a move toward natural sweeteners; however, neither natural nor synthetic sweeteners are metabolically inert. Identifying sugar replacements that not only closely imitate the sensory profile of sucrose but also exert advantageous effects on body weight and metabolism is critical in successfully the ultimate goals of reducing added sugar in the average consumer's diet. With so many options for sucrose replacement available, consumer opinion and cost, which vary widely with suagr replacements, will also play a vital role in which sweeteners are successful in widespread adoption.

Consumption of non-nutritive sweeteners by pre-schoolers of the food and environment Chilean cohort (FECHIC) before the implementation of the Chilean food labelling and advertising law

BACKGROUND

Consumption of non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) is becoming increasingly more frequent, particularly in the context of obesity prevention policies. The aim of this study was to describe the consumption of NNS in an ongoing cohort of pre-schoolers (4-6-year-old) before the implementation of the Chilean Food Labelling and Advertising Law, identify sociodemographic and anthropometric characteristics associated with their consumption, and describe the main dietary sources of each NNS sub-type.

METHODS

In 959 low-medium income pre-schoolers from the Food and Environment Chilean Cohort (FECHIC), dietary data from a single 24-h recall was linked to NNS content information obtained from packaged foods (n = 12,233). The prevalence of NNS consumption was estimated by food source and characterized by child and maternal sociodemographic and anthropometric variables. Intakes and main dietary sources were described for the six most prevalent NNS in Chile: Sodium Cyclamate, Saccharin, Aspartame, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose, and Steviol glycosides.

RESULTS

Sixty-eight percent of the pre-schoolers consumed at least one source of NNS on the day of the dietary recall; most of them consumed NNS from foods and beverages (n = 532), while only 12% (n = 119) also consumed table-top sweeteners. The prevalence of NNS consumption was significantly higher among children whose mothers had a high educational level compared to children whose mothers did not complete high school (p < 0.05); however, it did not differ by any other variable studied. The highest intakes of NNS were observed for Aspartame [2.5 (1.4-3.7) mg/kg per consumer], followed by Sodium Cyclamate [1.6 (1.3-2.6) mg/kg per consumer] and Steviol glycosides [1.2 (0.2-2.1) mg/kg per consumer]. Beverages were the only food group that contributed to the intake of the six NNS studied, accounting for 22% of the overall intake of Saccharine and up to 99% of Aspartame intake.

CONCLUSIONS

Before the implementation of the Food Labelling and Advertising Law, NNS consumption was highly prevalent among a cohort of low-middle income Chilean pre-schoolers. Continuous monitoring of NNS consumption is essential given potential food reformulation associated with the implementation of this set of obesity-prevention policies.

Modelling of the impact of universal added sugar reduction through food reformulation

Food reformulation has been suggested to be one of the strategies to reduce population added sugar (AS) intake. This study aims to investigate the untested assumption that a reduction in AS through reformulation will result in a reduction in population intakes of AS and energy. Plausible dietary data from 4,140 respondents of an Australian national nutrition survey were used. Dietary modelling was performed at AS reductions of 10%, 15%, and 25% using four strategies: simple removal of AS or replacement with non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS), and replacement of AS with NNS and either: polyols, 50% fibres or 50% maltodextrin. Paired t-tests were conducted to compare the intake of energy, fat, and AS pre- and post-reformulation. The chosen reformulation strategies resulted in a projected reduction in AS and energy, with the greatest reduction found in 25% reformulation which was the highest level modelled. The overall projected mean (SD) reduction in energy and AS after 25% reformulation was 114 (92) kJ/day and 11.73 (7.52) g/day, p < 0.001. To conclude, product reformulation may be a potentially useful strategy for reducing AS intake. Although the magnitude of projected reduction was small at the individual level, the impact may be meaningful at a population level.

The scientific basis for healthful carbohydrate profile

Dietary guidelines indicate that complex carbohydrates should provide around half of the calories in a balanced diet, while sugars (i.e., simple carbohydrates) should be limited to no more than 5-10% of total energy intake. To achieve this public health goal a collective effort from different entities including governments, food & beverage industries and consumers is required. Some food companies have committed to continually reduce sugars in their products. Different solutions can be used to replace sugars in food products but it is important to ensure that these solutions are more healthful than the sugars they replace. The objectives of this paper are, (1) to identify carbohydrates and carbohydrates sources to promote and those to limit for dietary intake and food product development, based on current knowledge about the impact of carbohydrates on the development of dental caries, obesity and cardio-metabolic disorders (2) to evaluate the impact of food processing on the quality of carbohydrates and (3) to highlight the challenges of developing healthier products due to the limitations and gaps in food regulations, science & technology and consumer education.