Health and taste — two concepts that consumers often consider mutually exclusive when it comes to what they eat. With 65% of consumers wanting more calorie information on labels, taste is still their No. 1 driver for purchasing decisions, according to the International Food Information Council. Tate & Lyle, however, refuses to be locked into the idea that just because food is healthy it can’t taste good, too. Tate & Lyle, Hoffman Estates, IL, was the first company to commercialize allulose in the US, bringing its Dolcia Prima Allulose to market in February of this year. This low-­calorie sugar enables bakers to cut their formulations’ sugar without sacrificing taste and texture.

“Tate & Lyle recognized the value allulose offers for the food and beverage industries to meet increasing demand for reduced calories,” said Luis Fernandez, senior vice-president, global applications, Tate & Lyle. “Based on years of sweetener expertise, Tate & Lyle had the industry know-how to derive allulose from glucose to overcome historically limited supply.”

Allulose is a low-calorie sugar found in wheat and fruits such as figs and raisins. Tate & Lyle takes the carbohydrate from corn and converts it to the sugar that has 90% fewer calories than sucrose. Dolcia Prima is not metabolized, which makes it nearly calorie-free at 0.39 Cal per g. In sensory testing at Tate & Lyle, Dolcia Prima also delivered a similar organoleptic profile as sugar with a clean, sweet taste.

“Sensory data has shown that consumers rank soft cookies made with Dolcia Prima at parity with cookies formulated with caloric sugars in appearance, aroma, flavor and texture,” Mr. Fernandez said.

The new sweetener has also been shown to improve shelf life; bars containing it had better texture acceptability after three months of storage at room temperature than a bar sweetened with only caloric sugar. “The bars made with Dolcia Prima remained soft and moist while a control bar became too hard and chewy,” he said.

In formulations, allulose works well in rolls, cakes, pies, pastries, cookies and frostings. Functionally, allulose behaves like other sugars. It browns in the oven, depresses the freezing point in frozen products and adds bulk and texture. In comparison with sucrose, allulose even exhibits greater solubility in aqueous solutions over a wide range of temperatures and a lower tendency to crystallize in high-solid systems. The low-calorie sugar also exhibits synergy with other sweeteners. This allows bakers to build a better sweetening system of multiple sweeteners.

As bakers continue to find ways to maintain taste while delivering the nutrition consumers want, this sweetener alternative from Tate & Lyle can help formulators lower their product’s calories while maintaining the flavor and mouthfeel consumers expect. For more information on Tate & Lyle’s Dolcia Prima allulose and other sweetener alternatives, visit www.tateandlyle.com.