Whether it’s to enhance flavor profiles, reduce calories or to mask the off-notes of added vitamins and minerals, beverage manufacturers continue to turn to sweeteners to help produce products that appeal to consumers’ taste preferences.
Growing concerns about increasing rates of obesity and related diseases such as diabetes have bolstered the need for new sweetener solutions. From 2009 to 2010, 35.7 percent of U.S. adults were obese, according to data released in January by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta.
Efforts to lower the calorie counts in beverages have helped spark a number of innovations from many facets of the industry, including equipment manufacturers. As more beverage-makers look to take down the calories in their products through sweetener blend formulations, suppliers of processing automation equipment also are working to develop equipment to handle these new formats.
GLG Life Tech Corp.’s newly formed subsidiary AN0C Stevia Solutions launched a new zero-calorie product line, AN0C Dream Sweetener, which is based on GLG’s BlendSure products. AN0C Stevia Solutions focuses on providing naturally sweetened zero- and reduced-calorie food and beverage formulations outside of mainland China, where it markets products under the AN0C brand name.