Sugar-free chewy sweets with an improved nutritional profile.

Target:

To prevent obesity, many health authorities such as the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) recommend limiting the consumption of mono- and disaccharides, reducing the energy density of the diet and “promoting” the availability and accessibility of a variety of low-fat, high-fibre foods.

Reduction of sugar intake is also recommended to prevent dental caries.

High-calorie foods with high sugar and low fiber contents such as confectioneries, which are abundant, relatively cheap and heavily promoted specifically to children, are incriminated by health authorities.

Roquette has worked on developing a recipe for a sugar-free chewy sweet with high fibre content. Some sugar-free chewy sweets already exist on the market, but they generally contain low amounts of fibres and high amounts of polyols. The new idea here is to offer an alternative with a limited quantity of polyols and a high quantity of fibres thanks to NUTRIOSE^® FB or FM 06. NUTRIOSE^® FB and FM 06 soluble fibres are dextrins with outstanding digestive tolerance.

Technical aspects:

The formulation of a chewy sweet with a low amount of polyols is not very easy: since we replace polyols (which generally have rather low molecular weights) with a higher molecular weight product, the viscosity of the cooked mass during the process and the water activity of the final product are increased. The chewy sweet formulated according to these principles tends to be harder than standard products and to lose water during storage.

The recipe developed by Roquette gives a chewy sweet with around 10 % polyols but with a soft texture which remains stable during storage (provided that it is stored in waterproof packaging). This result can be obtained thanks to the choice of the polyol and the optimization of the gelatin and water contents.

N.B.: stability during storage was checked under Roquette testing conditions. Stability in different sales areas should be checked on a case by case basis.

Roquette is committed to helping confectionery producers develop tailor-made recipes for healthier & appealing products. Guideline formulations are available on demand for chewy sweets and most other types of hard and soft confectionery to be marketed "Sugar reduced", "Sugarless" or "Rich in fibers".

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