THE RIGHT MIX 1995-02-06

Phil Katz

If you look at a Nutrition Facts Panel on food packages, you will find that certain sugars and their amounts are listed under the carbohydrate section. This is a requirement for all sugars classified as a mono or di saccharide. In addition, the factor used to determine their calorie content is 4 kilo calories, or K calories, per gram. As an option, you also can list sugar alcohols in this section if they are present in your product. To date, these sugar alcohols have been considered by the Food and Drug Administration to also contribute 4 K calories per gram. However, there may be a change in the wind that will open a door of opportunity to the developer and marketer of reduced-calorie foods with these sugars or starches. Because of the way the polyols are metabolized, they contribute less than 4 K calories/gram. In a study for the Calorie Control Council, caloric values for various sugar alcohols ranging from 2 K to 3 K calories per gram were reported. Although no regulations have been promulgated to date, FDA has issued letters of nonobjection on this issue. There is a change, and being proactive will give you a head start.

What is a sugar alcohol? To the chemist, they are derived from sugars that have been hydrogenated so that the ketone or aldehyde groups on the molecule are replaced by hydroxy groups. A description for the nonchemist: Sugar alcohols can be found naturally, occurring in some fruits and vegetables such as plums, raspberries, strawberries, spinach and cauliflower. Some of the properties of the original sugars that polyols are derived from are maintained and other properties are changed. One unique property is the fact that sugar alcohols cannot be fermented by bacteria that produce byproducts leading to cavities in teeth.

The sugar alcohols have a wide variety of properties that can be used to your advantage while reducing calories in your product. According to the study for the Calorie Control Council, the caloric values for sugar alcohols are as follows: lactitol, 2 K calories per gram; xylitol, 2.4 K calories per gram; sorbitol, 2.6 K calories per gram, and maltitol, 3.0 K calories per gram. The polyols are sweet, ranging from half the sweetness to almost all the sweetness of sucrose. Sugar alcohols are good humectants; they raise melting and boiling points, and they do not caramelize or undergo browning.

In foods, sugar alcohols are used in both crystalline and syrup forms. Current uses include confections such as chewing gum, candy and jellies. In baked goods, polyols have been used in biscuits, cakes and other pastries. Sugar alcohols also have useful applications in frozen fish products such as surimi, and frozen desserts.

Although sugar alcohols are safe for use in foods, they do have a possible mild laxative effect. Developers should take this into consideration when formulating products with sugar alcohols and use them sparingly.

The possible acceptance of the reduced-calorie contribution of sugar alcohols opens the door to the next generation of lower calorie foods using these polyol carbohydrates.

Phil Katz is president of the Food and Pharmaceutical Division of Herbert V. Shuster Inc., a consumer products R&D and testing firm with facilities in Quincy, Mass., and Atlanta.