Sugar reduction tackled at Hi SEA

AT Health Ingredients (Hi) South East Asia, Ms Sabeera Ali, Nutrition Officer at Food Industry Asia (FIA) will conduct a workshop on one of the hottest topics in the food and beverage industry, sugar reduction.

Hi South East Asia takes place from 27-28 March 2018 in Jakarta’s JIEXPO in Kemayoran. The new trade event organised by UBM will be co-located with the CPhl pharmaceutical fair. Organisers expect about 1,000 visitors to Hi on top of 5,500 for CPhl.

The region's food and beverage companies are faced with the challenge of producing delicious yet low sugar products. In an interview with UBM, Ms Ali shares three innovation technologies to achieve sugar reduction. One is modulation technology which involves using natural flavour solutions to help mask mouthfeel and texture. In effect the technology will “enhance the overall taste perception, impression and flavour profile,” she says. Another new approach to sugar reduction is modifying the sucrose structure.  A third approach is integrated technology to food texture design and optimisation which highlights “the textural attributes of ingredients individually without encountering negative textural consequences.”

Ms Ali expects sugar reduction to be a key trend in the next three to five years, due to the prevalence of lifestyle diseases. She says the industry is under pressure to innovate and reformulate healthier alternatives with new and existing technologies. Read more