Blended Sweetener Could Help Create Market for Mid-Calorie Soft Drinks
by Mary Ellen Kuhn
GLG Life Tech Corp. (Booth 3675), a vertically integrated agricultural and commercial producer of stevia, announced the launch of BlendSure at a press conference on Monday, July 19, at McCormick Place. GLG researchers developed BlendSure by isolating various components of the stevia plant and then blending them in a proprietary ratio to deliver a sweetener characterized by a balanced, sucrose-like taste profile. Specifically, it combines glycosides such as rebaudioside A and pure stevioside to provide a sweetener that delivers sugar-like sweetness at a favorable cost. The new sweetener is both heat and pH stable and is well suited to carbonated beverage applications.
BlendSure could mean new options for formulating mid-calorie soft drinks, said James Kempland, GLG Vice President of Marketing. In the past, Kempland said, consumers tended to cluster in either the camps of zero-calorie beverages or full-calorie beverages. Companies that introduced a mid-calorie product blending sucrose and aspartame found that consumers didn’t respond positively, Kempland contended, because the formulations were adding artificial ingredients into the beverage. With BlendSure, however, it is feasible for beverage companies to formulate a calorie-reduced soft drink with an all-natural profile.
Kempland believes the time may be right for a mid-calorie soft drink, given the global obesity crisis. “The [soft drink] industry needs a helping hand, and we believe strongly this is the helping hand,” he said. He also noted that the company sees opportunities for BlendSure in emerging markets like China and India, where changing dietary patterns have meant an increased demand for sweeteners.
GLG also announced at the press conference that BlendSure has undergone a rigorous safety review in order to confirm that it meets the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) safety criteria. The company plans to file its dossier for a no-objection letter from FDA within the next several days, Kempland said.
Press conference participants had the opportunity to sample prototypes of two 50% calorie- reduced beverages formulated with BlendSure—one cola and one lemon-lime carbonated beverage. Each formulation contained 70 calories per 12-ounce serving vs 140 calories in a full-calorie soft drink.