LONDON — Tate & Lyle, P.L.C. has introduced Dolcia Prima allulose, a sugar ingredient that may be used in low-calorie applications for such products as beverages, yogurt, ice cream and baked foods. Dolcia Prima is 70% as sweet as sucrose and has 90% fewer calories. It provides a clean, sweet taste and the functionality of sugar, according to London-based Tate & Lyle.
Tate & Lyle developed a patent-protected process to produce allulose (a simple sugar or monosaccharide) from raw agricultural materials. Currently the company uses corn in the United States, but it’s also possible to produce allulose from other sources, including sucrose from sugar beet or sugar cane.
The Food and Drug Administration previously has said it has no objection to the Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status of allulose as a sweetener in foods and beverages. Dolcia Prima, Tate & Lyle’s brand name for allulose, is not metabolized, which means it has 0.39 calorie per gram compared to 4 calories per gram for sucrose.
“One of the biggest challenges our industry faces is reducing calories while maintaining the taste experience consumers expect from their favorite 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. Working with Dolcia Prima, our culinary teams have learned that it is possible to provide consumers with products with all the taste, all the mouthfeel and all the texture they expect, but without all the calories. In taste trials, consumers ranked low-calorie versions of foods made with Dolcia Prima equally with the full-calorie versions.”
Dolcia Prima also has been shown to work in combination with other sweeteners, including Tate & Lyle’s Splenda sucralose and Tasteva stevia extracts.
Tate & Lyle listed Dolcia Prima’s benefits in various applications. In beverages, Dolcia Prima provides mouthfeel benefits and enables a balanced sweetness profile. It may work in combination with low-calorie, high-intensity sweeteners. In baked foods, Dolcia Prima enables browning and caramelization, adds texture and bulk, and disperses in batter and dough. In frozen desserts, Dolcia Prima adds a creamy mouthfeel and smooth texture, enables balanced sweetness, and provides meltdown.
Tate & Lyle turned to its own research to show the demand for low-calorie products. While 65% of consumers look for the number of calories on product labels another 61% look for the amount of total sugars, according to Tate & Lyle.
Tate & Lyle has set up a specific web site for its new sweetener at www.dolciaprima.com.
