Original article posted on Food Business News
Getting Sugar Out of Plant-Based Dairy Alternatives
Article by Donna Berry, with insights from Icon Foods
Experienced and knowledgeable ingredient suppliers can help manufacturers reduce sugar in plant-based dairy alternatives with sweeteners that have the right functional benefits to achieve the desired taste, texture, mouthfeel and more.
Plant-based dairy strives to emulate the real thing in every way. Dairy frozen desserts tend to have a thicker mouthfeel and leverage the dairy and fats in real dairy, which lend to overrun and mouthfeel. Non-dairy frozen desserts rely on hydrocolloids to create that mouthfeel. Additionally, lowering the freezing depression point is a challenge which makes a lot of non-dairy frozen desserts icy.
Icon Foods CEO Thom King shared his expertise for a Food Business News article on reducing sugar in plant-based milks, yogurts, and frozen desserts.
“In formulating flavored ready-to-drink plant-based milks, we have leaned into fibers such as inulin, fructooligosaccharides and soluble tapioca fiber to increase viscosity and mouthfeel. All of Icon’s formulas focus on clean-label sugar reduction and those fibers certainly lend a hand,” King said.
“In frozen desserts, we use a combination of allulose and erythritol. They help with the freezing depression point, while allulose also aids in overrun. Because these sweeteners are 70% as sweet as sugar, we augment with high-intensity sweeteners such as monk fruit and stevia. To vanquish off-notes, we use a thaumatin-based sweetener modulator that helps bring out flavors and the sweet, lingering effect overrides any off-notes from high-intensity sweeteners, as well as pea proteins and soy.”
Icon Foods gives plant-based dairy and frozen dessert manufacturers a variety of food ingredients and inclusions designed to make deep, clean cuts to added sugar naturally. We utilize blends of sweetening compounds to deliver the optimum sweetness profile for your products. Our dedicated R&D team maximizes synergies among sweeteners—effectively replacing sugar.
Reach out to sales@iconfoods.com for free samples and to learn more about formulating with natural sweeteners, fibers, and sweetness modulators to achieve the right texture and flavor for plant-based dairy products.
Food Business News | Plant-Based Dairy Alternatives
- Berry, Donna. “Getting Sugar Out of Dairy Alternatives.” Food Business News RSS, Food Business News, 4 Oct. 2022, https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/22351-dairy-alternatives-and-sugar-reduction.
