The sugar content of foods is of increasing concern to consumers. Food ingredients suppliers are constantly making moves to meet these new needs. This week Danish ingredients company Danisco announced that it has launched a new technology to improve frozen desserts without an additional sugar.
Elevations 800, claims Danisco, enables dairies to combine Danisco's carbohydrate Litesse product with their stabiliser/emulsifier system to produce a smooth, creamy ice cream.
"Elevations 800 provides a niche that is not currently out there," said Cathy Miller, technical applications director - Ingredients, Danisco. "Most of the no sugar added products currently on the market are either no-fat or low-fat. This is a great tasting, indulgent product without the added sugar that many people need to avoid."
Litesse provides 1 kcal per gram in comparison with 4 kcal per gram when sugar is used. "In addition to being a bulking agent, Litesse is now considered 90 per cent dietary fibre, so depending on the amount used, a fibre claim may be made," added Miller.
The emulsifier/stabiliser system used in Elevations 800, that also helps guard against heat shock, is designed for high-fat applications."The nice thing about the stabiliser and Litesse®is that they're easy to incorporate into a dairy plant," continued Miller. "There are no special handling issues."
Elevations 800 also includes Germantown Blackjack, a combination of two artificial sweeteners, aspartame and acesulfame potassium, designed to give a rounded profile. "By combining the sweeteners, we've avoided a lot of the resulting sharp notes when used individually," said Miller.
Elevations 800 also features natural and artificial vanilla flavoring, which, according to Danisco, can serve as both a masking agent of artificial sweeteners and provide a sweet creamy note to the product. "Vanilla is the hardest flavour to develop in a no sugar added product because it really doesn't hide anything. Once you do vanilla, any other flavour is very easy to develop," Miller concluded.