natural sweeteners - a new sugar substitute and the Coca Cola Challenge

Finding a new, natural and low-calorie sweetener that creates the same taste as sugar is a 1 million dollar challenge created by Coca Cola. The challenge for researchers to find a sugar alternative for beverages and food ended last Thursday and the winner will be awarded in October 2018.

Why is this so difficult? And why are currently used sweeteners no alternative?

• many sugar substitutes like Stevia have a bitter taste background
• alternative sweeteners have another consistency than saccharose because of it's chemical structure and cannot be handeled the same way as sugar
• regarding the process: to produce a natural sweetener you need a process that is cheap and efficient; either you can extract a sweetener from a plant or produce it with microorganisms by fermentation

Why do we need a good alternative for saccharose?

• sugar is in so many foods and beverages and the amount we are eating cause diseases like diabetes, adiposity and
  caries
• sweeteners with more sweetness are used in lower amount, so you have to produce/extract less of it
• there is an increasing demand for natural and safe supplements with less calories
• alternatives on the market have not the same taste as saccharose

BRAIN AG in Germany has developed a process for a natural sweetener without calories and bitterness and the process is getting improved right now. The company is also working on finding other natural sweeteners and flavour enhancers for sugar, because there is an increasing demand by many other food and health care producers.

'We’re always searching for newer, better ingredients, and we know that amazing ideas can come from anywhere. These two challenges are very much rooted in our desire to make the drinks our consumers want to drink, and in our willingness to look beyond the walls of our company for breakthrough sugar alternatives that help us deliver the great taste people love but with less sugar and fewer calories' (Coca Cola).

Hopefully there will be a healthy and good alternative for sugar on the market soon, because I personally taste the bitterness in many diet products. That's why I often use honey or maple syrup as an alternative, but sugar I like most.

Are you using sweeteners or do you swear on sugar? What is your favourite sweetener?