Food ingredients company Tate & Lyle has launched Dolcia Prima, a new low-calorie sugar that it says delivers the satisfying mouthfeel and sweetness of table sugar, but contains 90 per cent fewer calories.
Dolcia Prima is the brand name for allulose, a low-calorie sugar that exists in nature and can be found in small quantities in some fruits and foods people eat every day.
Dolcia Prima could transform the way the food and beverage industry develops low- or reduced-calorie products, according to its maker.
“One of the biggest challenges our industry faces is reducing calories while maintaining the taste experience consumers expect from their favourite foods and beverages,” said Abigail Storms, vice president, Platform Management, Sweeteners, at Tate & Lyle.
“Now food and beverage manufacturers can contribute to this public health challenge by using Dolcia Prima Low-Calorie Sugar.”
In taste trials, consumers ranked low-calorie versions of foods made with Dolcia Prima equally with the full-calorie versions, according to Storms.
The ingredient can be used in a range of applications including beverages, yoghurt, ice cream and baked products to reduce calories or to make lower-calorie options taste better.
Unlike high-potency sweeteners, Dolcia Prima is 70 per cent as sweet as sucrose (sugar) and has the same temporal taste profile, which means it provides a clean, sweet taste as well as the functionality of sugar, according to Tate & Lyle.
It also delivers many of the benefits that sugar offers, such as adequate browning when baking, bulk and texture, and it can also depress the freezing point when making frozen products, according to Tate & Lyle.
“It is a highly-soluble, liquid ingredient, which means it is easy to use in liquid products and adds bulk and texture in formulations,” the company said.
