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P. DECOCK, Cargill, Cerestar Vilvoorde R&D Centre, Havenstraat 84, Vilvoorde, 1800, Belgium and C. Bowman, Cargill, Food and Pharma Specialties NA, 15407 McGinty Road, Wayzata, MN 55391. The massive attention that “Lowcarb lifestyle” receives today closely relates to the increasing overweight and obesity epidemic. The obesity problem is very complex and has many facets. The energy imbalance lies at the center: a higher calorie intake than expenditure. More people than ever before are on a diet, most of them on a low carbohydrate diet. Low carb diets are so popular because they are relatively easy to adhere to. Their mechanism is based on using body fat as the primary fuel, resulting in an increase of ketones which in turn leads to a decreased appetite. Burning body fat happens when carbohydrate isn’t available. Therefore, intake of glycemic available carbohydrates (“net carbs”) has to be reduced to a level below which ketones are formed and weight loss occurs. That is why so many foods are being reformulated to replace high glycemic carbohydrates such as sugar with polyols. Polyols (or sugar alcohols) generally have a low to very low glycemic index, and a caloric value between 2-3 kcal/g. There is only one new polyol, erythritol, that is truly non-glycemic as well as non-caloric (max 0.2 kcal/g). Erythritol is an all-natural bulk sweetener produced by fermentation. Low carb foods in which it is used today are sugar-free table top sweeteners and diet beverages in which it improves body and smoothness, and masks unwanted off-tastes such as bitter, astringency and irritant that are often associated with the use of high intensity sweeteners. Very recent innovative low carb concepts based on erythritol include diet frozen carbonated beverages (Pepsi’s diet Slurpee) and novel calorie-reduced sugar-free chocolates. In comparison to maltitol-based chocolate, clinical studies have shown that chocolate based on erythritol has a lower glycemic response (close to zero) and a better gastrointestinal acceptability with fewer abdominal complaints. Erythritol-based chocolate is also lower in calories.
Session 1, NEW PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGIES: Innovations in healthy ingredients
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