Alternative Sweeteners – Scope Trend and Sugar Substitutability

Alternative Sweeteners

• An alternative sweetener is a food additive that duplicates the effect of sugar in taste, usually with less food energy.

• An important class of sugar substitutes is known as high-intensity sweeteners. Aspartame, Sucralose, Neotame and Stevia being the major ones.

• The sensation of sweetness caused by these compounds is sometimes notably different from sucrose, so often used as blends.

Alternative Sweeteners in India

• In the India, five intensely-sweet sugar substitutes have been approved for use.

• They are aspartame, sucralose, neotame, acesulfame potassium, and saccharin.

• There is some ongoing controversy over whether artificial sweetener usage poses health risks.

Indian Market for Alternative Sweeteners -- Overview

• Aspartame is currently the most popular artificial sweetener in the Indian Market, as the price has dropped significantly since the Monsanto Company patent expired in 1992.

• Sucralose may soon replace it in Indian market, as alternative processes to Tate & Lyle's patent seem to be emerging.

• According to Morgan Stanley study in 2010, this can mean that the price of sucralose will drop by thirty percent in the coming 2-3 years

Usage of Alternate Sweeteners

• Some commonly consumed foods with alternative sweeteners are diet sodas, cereals, and sugar-free desserts.

• Used in India mainly by Diabetics, but market of diet concious people is also picking up.

• Zydus Cadilla is the largest manufacturer of Alternate Sweetener Tablets by the name of Sugar Free.

India – Sugar Scenario and Alternate Sweetener

• The Sugar production in India this year is around 23 Million T and a self-sufficient market.

• Alternate Sweetener market, however, is growing rapidly and poised to grow at about 25%.

• The recent phenomenon observed in China is that Alternate Sweeteners have replaced 10% of Sugar market in the last 7-8 years.

• India, which follows the western trends in food habits, is also expected to have a substitution of Sugar, firstly in the Institutional Segment.

Sugar Substitution

• Diabetes mellitus -- people with diabetes have difficulty regulating their blood sugar levels.

• To assist in weight loss -- some people choose to limit their food energy intake by replacing high-energy sugar with other sweeteners having little or no food energy

• Cost -- many sugar substitutes are cheaper than sugar

Sugar Substitution Contd.

• Substitution of Sugar will be in appreciable number if the Institutional Segment adopts alternative sweeteners.

• It will take time to replace sugar as table top sweetener in Households as changing food habits take time.

• As of now, the use in ‘Households’ of alternate sweeteners is mainly by diabetics.

Alternative Sweeteners Allowed in India

• Corn Based Alternative Sweeteners --

1) High Fructose Corn Syrup

2) High Maltose Corn Syrup

3) Dextro-mono Hydrate

4) Liquid Glucose

Alternative Sweeteners Contd.

• Natural Alternative Sweeteners –

1) Sucralose

2) Stevia

• Artificial Alternative Sweeteners –

1)Aspartame

2) Neotame

3) Acesulfame K

Corn Based Sweeteners – Manufacturing Process

Corn Based Sweeteners – Manufacturing Process Contd.

Corn Based Sweetener Manufacturing Companies

The major players are

• Riddhi Siddhi• Gujarat Ambuja• Sukhjeet Starch• Maize Products• Anil Starch• Bharat Starch• Santosh Starch

High Fructose Corn Syrup

• High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) comprises any of a group of corn syrups that has undergone enzymatic processing to convert some of its glucose into fructose.

• The most widely used varieties of high-fructose corn syrup are: HFCS 55 (mostly used in soft drinks), approximately 55% fructose and 42% glucose; and HFCS 42 (used in many foods and baked goods), approximately 42% fructose and 53% glucose.

High Fructose Corn Syrupin India

• In India, no company manufactures HCFS as it is very expensive and not much demand as India is second largest producer of Sugar and strict regulations to control prices of Sugar.

• Two companies, Dhampur Sugar and UP Organic started manufacturing HCFS in 2008 but now they don’t produce anymore as it is very expensive than sugar.

• HFCS is cheaper in the United States as a result of a combination of corn subsidies and sugar tariffs and quotas.

High Maltose Corn Syrup

• It is manufactured by the hydrolysis of Starch by a malting process, fromMaize Starch in India.

• It is a thick, sticky liquid with the fragrance of malt.

• It is 46-48% as sweet as sugar , used by confectioneries.

Uses Of HMCS

• High-maltose corn syrup has a great advantage in the production of hard candy.

• A maltose solution has a lower viscosity than a glucose solution, but will still set to a hard product, hence it prevents the candy from becoming sticky.

• It also increases the shelf life of the product and inhibits fermentation and bacterial growth.

• The current price is around Rs. 30000/T.

HMCS – Success in USA

• Price of HMCS depends on Corn Price. Corn is highly subsidized in USA hence HMCS is used in almost all products like

1)Candies2)baked goods,puddings3)powdered drinks4)sauces and dressing as a thickening agent, and

as the base of some artificial sweeteners.• In India, the corn prices are on the rise, so corn

based syrup prices are also expected to go up.

HMCS – Supply and Demand

• All the starch manufacturing companies produce HMCS.

• Buyers of HMCS are Perfetti van Melle, Nestle, Parle, Cadbury and other confectioneries.

• List of companies involved are all the starch processing units as all the corn based sweeteners are derived from starch slurry

Growth in HMCS

• The growth in the HMCS Sector cannot be found out by finding the growth of the company as main production is of starch and the growth in the starch industry will reflect more on the growth on the company.

• Growth in HMCS Market is pegged to be around 20% by Riddhi Siddhi and 18-20% by Gujarat Ambuja.

Liquid Glucose