Alternative Sweeteners Revisited: Major Developments and Growth - MECAS(17)06

This study provides an update to the ISO’s previous study on sugar substitutes whichwas undertaken in 2012. In the intervening period the backlash against sugar has taken centre stage with beverage and food manufacturers looking to reformulatewith lower sugar content. Higher quality stevia sweeteners are now the normwith major producers significantly expanding stevia production capacities andhoning technology to extract rarer steviol glycosides. The foray of major carbonatedsoft drinks (CSD) manufacturers in North America and Europe into mid-calorieversions - containing stevia and sugar- appears to have flopped. Production oflegacy sweeteners in China is recently subject to far stricter environmentalcontrols. Several new high and low intensity sweeteners are being produced andapproved for use. Furthermore, new fermentation technologies are beingdeveloped to mass produce “natural” sweeteners at lower cost. While thebacklash against sugar has caused alarm among producers, traders and the widerfood and beverage industry, it has so far failed to cause meaningful changes tosweetener consumption patterns at a global level. There has been, as yet, no extensivesubstitution of sugar with alternative sweeteners. This has kept sugar’s shareof the sweeteners market relatively unchanged at around 83-84%. Global HFS offtake has flatlined, driven mainly by declining sales of CSD in the US, byfar the dominant producer and consumer of HFS. Consumption of high intensity sweeteners(HIS) has failed to keep-up with sugar consumption growth. Looking forwards, thoseHIS offering “natural” credentials will likely benefit and show firm growth, but mainly at the expense of the chemically derived legacy HIS.

 

Contents:

Introduction 							
Overview							
Background 							
Functionality of Sugar and Alternative Sweeteners 		
	High Intensity Sweeteners					
	Low Intensity Sweeteners					
Regulation and Approvals						
Alternative Sweetener Prices					
A: Alternative Caloric Sweeteners			
High Fructose Syrup (HFS)					
Global Overview							
NAFTA								
	US								
        Mexico							
Europe								
       EU								
       Turkey							
       Russia							
Asia									
Japan								
China								
Other Asia								
New HFS markets?							

B: High Intensity Sweeteners				
Synthetic HIS							
Saccharin								
Aspartame 								
Cyclamate 								
Acesulfame-K							
Sucralose								
Neotame								
Advantame								
Natural HIS							
Stevia								
	Expanding Production Base					
        New Cultivars, Enzymatic Modification, Designer Blends and Fermentation Technology				
        Trade Issues						
Luo Han Guo (Monk fruit)						
        Law Suits							
        Siratose							
Allulose								
Sweet Proteins							
Implications for Sugar