(Food-Beverage-News.Com, March 31, 2020 ) The global low-intensity sweeteners market is driven by growing demand due to increasing health awareness and demand for low-calorie products. Low-intensity sweeteners add taste to foods and beverages similar to sugar but without calorie addition. A tendency for a substantial reduction in calories among the consumer groups has boosted the demand for low-intensity sweeteners, especially in the beverages.
Among the types of low-intensity sweeteners such as xylitol, tagatose, allulose, trehalose, and isomaltulose, xylitol accounted for the largest market share in the year 2015, followed by trehalose and isomaltulose. Xylitol is produced traditionally by both bark of birch wood and corn cobs. The use of corn cobs has increased in xylitol production in recent years. According to national health and food intake surveys, on average, Americans increased their caloric intake by 9.64% in the past 20 years which has resulted in demand for controlled diet food and beverage ingredients including low-intensity sweeteners. The other factors include aging, inactiveness among the population, and lack of weight management have boosted the overall demand for low-calorie food and beverages including low-intensity sweeteners.
Low-intensity sweeteners keep the insulin levels unaffected after their intake. In general, people suffering from diabetes and obesity prefer to use low-intensity sweeteners. Variants of low-intensity sweeteners are being produced from different sources and used across various applications. Regulations play a vital role in terms of mapping the supply potential of low-intensity sweeteners. Approvals from regulatory bodies such as The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are required for launching the low-intensity sweeteners products, as some of the products need to be consumed at required concentrations and do have side affects on human health.
Low-intensity sweeteners including xylitol, tagatose, allulose, trehalose, and isomaltulose is largely used in beverages followed by table-top sweeteners and pharmaceuticals. These sweeteners produce a desired level of sweetness even in smaller quantities close to that of sugar offering better taste and meeting consumer needs for a sweetener. These products are also known to enhance the shelf life of products of beverages, when used.
The Asia-Pacific region dominates the low-intensity sweeteners market in terms of both volumes and growth potential followed by North America. Major confectionery companies are concentrated in Europe which rely on sweeteners; hence, higher demand for confectionery in Europe is likely to support growth potential for low-intensity sweeteners as well. In the rest of the world, Brazil will gain focus being the highest supplier of sucrose which forms a major base feedstock for producing low-intensity sweeteners.
