(Food-Beverage-News.Com, January 03, 2017 ) Sugar alcohols occur naturally and come from plant products such as fruits and berries. Sugar alcohols are added to some food and beverages to make them taste sweet. In comparison to general sugar, sugar alcohols provide fewer calories. Sugar alcohols are gaining popularity due to the rise in sales of low calorie products in the past few years. The growing health concern and changing consumer’s lifestyle, which is moving them away from consuming high-calorie foods, acts as major driving factor for sugar alcohol industry. By product, sugar alcohol market is divided into five segments: sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, glycerol and others. By end-user, sugar alcohol market is divided into three segments: food, health care and others.
North America is the largest market for low-calorie food followed by the European countries. The developing nations in Asia-Pacific region are expected to show high growth in the next five years.
The growing health concern and changing consumer’s lifestyle, which is moving them away from consuming high-calorie foods, acts as major driving factor for the sugar alcohol industry. Other major factors contributing to market growth are increasing diabetes concerns and rising obesity levels. In recent times, obesity has become one of the most challenging health problems in world. According to WHO, in 2010, the number of overweight children under the age of five was around 42 million globally. Obese people are more likely to develop diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases at young age. High obesity rate among children is a major concern for parents, which compels them to keep their children away from high calorie food and opt for low calorie food. The number of people with diabetes is highly increasing in both developed and developing countries. Among developing countries, India and China have the largest number of diabetic’s patient’s. In the developed countries, U.S. has the largest number of diabetic’s patients. These factors ultimately boost the sugar alcohols market.
