Sugar reduction—applying the term as a generic for full-calorie sweeteners—remains one of the top concerns among consumers, yet the lack of willingness to sacrifice flavor and function remains a challenge to product developers. This is especially the case for dairy items and beverages. As an example of the complexity of the challenge, reducing sugar in a clear, still beverage differs from doing so in a carbonated beverage, which, in turn, differs from doing so in a dairy-based beverage.

Certain sugar replacers might be better suited for different types of beverages—let’s say clear still, clear carbonated, and dairy-based. For this reason, formulators look for specific aspects when it comes to each type of beverage and the sweetener they choose for it.

It’s important to “start with a very clear development plan,” notes Kristen Sparkman, MS, a food scientist and product developer for CuliNEX, a clean label and flavor-first food product development consultancy. “We know what our guardrails are around sugar and carbohydrates, along with ingredient label expectations. This helps us to plan the ingredient choices we can evaluate for reducing or eliminating sugars. Reducing sugar is always easiest versus replacing it. Sugar contributes legitimate functionality besides sweetness.”

Sparkman also points out the need to “consider the application and base.” For example, she explains, “Carbonated beverages need a little body, as well as a nice balanced sweet replacement. Are we including fruit juice? We look to use sugar replacers to stack sweetness. There are few ingredients that will coat the tongue [as sugar does] or stimulate flavor release on the tongue.”

For a dairy beverage such as a yogurt drink or a coffee drink with a heavy milk content, Sparkman contributes that it is necessary to focus on the fat and protein as they will cause the sweetness to hit your tongue with different timing and different intensity. “A combo of stevia and monk fruit, are a good choice,” she suggests.

Sparkman points to several techniques she uses in reducing sugar, including:

• Stacking a combo of stevia and monk fruit to bring the sweetness to the right level and impact.
• Allulose as working well in beverages to add a little body. “It is a natural sweetener that is not absorbed by the body [and] the industry is moving rapidly to it,” she adds.
• Inulin provides some bulk and body while providing lower levels of sweetness.
• Developers might want to consider a flavor masker, bitterness masker, or a sweetness enhancer.

Reiterating the importance sweetener “stacking,” Sparkman discusses looking for a “sweetness intensity that hits immediately, then mid notes that combine with other flavors on the tongue, and finally lingering sweetness notes to fully replace the pleasant sweetness found in sugar.”

Watch the video interview above, or listen to the podcast version below.