The latest update on the progress of Public Health England’s sugar reduction targets showed an average reduction of just 2.9% in the report's targeted food categories1, a far cry from the 20% by 2020 target set back in 2017. In light of this, the rhetoric on sugar reduction has ramped up, with groups like Action on Sugar demanding mandatory targets for manufacturers producing calorie-dense products.2
The biscuit sector was one of nine identified sectors targeted for sugar reduction, but only achieved only a 0.6% reduction based on the 2015 benchmark.3 Consumers are demanding further action, and manufacturers must react to this.
In response, Ulrick & Short have developed a new clean label ingredient that reduces up to 20% of sugar in biscuits, mimicking the texture, volume and bite that sugar provides.
The ingredient, called avanté B, replaces the functionality of sugar in biscuits, and allows manufacturers to meet the PHE sugar reduction targets with no detriment to the finished product.
The latest addition to the company’s avanté sugar replacement range has been fine-tuned for products with a very short, brittle, texture such as traditional digestive biscuits and shortbreads.
The ingredient also promises to be easy to apply to existing recipes and is of course clean label, non-GM, and vegan.
Sugar also plays a critical functional role in a biscuit’s structure and bite, and therefore it is notoriously difficult to reduce sugar content
R&D Manager at Ulrick & Short, Danni Schroeter, said “Sweet bakery products, like biscuits, have been targeted because, by design, they are sugar and calorie-dense. Unfortunately, because of this, sugar also plays a critical functional role in a biscuit’s structure and bite, and therefore it is notoriously difficult to reduce sugar content.”
Schroeter added: “This most recent report is a bit of a wake-up call for manufacturers, and one way or another, some form of further regulation is an inevitability. avanté B allows manufacturers to be proactive in their product reformulation by developing healthier products, and pre-empting any extensions to these so-called ‘sin taxes’.”
Ulrick & Short is an established clean label ingredients specialist, supplying household name food manufacturers across the world with clean label, gluten-free, non-GM and organic ingredients, and innovating across a diverse range of food industry sectors including bakery, meat, dairy, soups and sauces.
The company is AA BRC accredited, has a team of dedicated food technologists based in the UK & Holland, and works hand in hand with customers to maximize value from product development.
References
- “Sugar reduction: Report on progress between 2015 and 2018”, September 2019 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/839756/Sugar_reduction_yr2_progress_report.pdf
- Katharine Jenner, Campaign Director of Action on Sugar: http://www.actiononsugar.org/news-centre/sugar-in-the-news/2019/2019-stories/public-health-england-sugar-reduction-programme-progress-between-2015-and-2018.html
- “Sugar reduction: Report on progress between 2015 and 2018”, September 2019 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/839756/Sugar_reduction_yr2_progress_report.pdf
