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Maltitol a bulk sweetener for no-added sugar & sugar-free food products
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Saturday, 16 October, 2010, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Maltitol is a polyol, a bulk sweetener derived from cereals. Polyols, they are found in fruits and vegetables in nature. Maltitol has been used in food especially in confectionery for more than 20 years in Europe and the USA and for a longer period in Japan. It was among the first ‘sugar-free’ ingredients to be used commercially for better-for-you (BFY) products. The point of BFY products is that they are healthier than existing products.
In the BFY segment sugar-free products has just started picking up the market and as per experts there is a huge market. To understand the background of sugar-free, firstly sugars category itself needs some clarification. As per the Codex standard for sugars (CODEX STAN 212-1999), the ingredients which come under sugars are: white sugar, powdered sugar, dextrose anhydrous, dextrose monohydrate, powdered dextrose, fructose (laevulose), soft white sugar, soft brown sugar, glucose syrup, dried glucose syrup, lactose, plantation or mill white sugar, raw cane sugar. Most of the time “sugar’ word corresponds to sucrose or saccharose and any claim made around sugar (such as ‘low sugar’, ‘sugar-free’ and ‘no added sugar’) should be extended to other sugars too. As mentioned in Official Journal of European Union (L 12/3) about nutritional claims and conditions applying to them, following conditions to be used for nutritional claims pertaining to sugars:
Low sugars: A claim that a food is low in sugars, and any claim likely to have the same meaning for the consumer, may only be made where the product contains no more than 5.0 g of sugars per 100 g for solids or 2.5 g of sugars per 100 ml for liquids.
Sugar-free: A claim that a food is sugars-free, and any claim likely to have the same meaning for the consumer, may only be made where the product contains no more than 0.5 g of sugars per 100 g or 100 ml.
No added sugars: A claim stating that sugars have not been added to a food, and any claim likely to have the same meaning for the consumer, may only be made where the product does not contain any added mono- or disaccharides or any other food used for its sweetening properties. If sugars are naturally present in the food, the following indication should also appear on the label: ‘contains naturally occurring sugars’.
Maltitol is seen as a sugar alternative for BFY products with low sugars, sugars-free, and with no added sugars claims due to multiple nutritional and functional benefits such as: (i) to reduce calorie intake (ii) good for dental health (iii) low glycaemic response, (iv) functional benefits (flavour release, higher shelf-life etc.) and also (v) ease of use. Its sweetness and solubility make it one of the best sugar substitutes. A comparison with sugar is shown in Table 1. Its specific properties allow its use in wide range of applications such as chocolates, chewing gums, sugar confectioneries and panning, dairy and bakery applications. Its sweetness is comparable with the sugars and as a reference it is around 0.9 that of sugar. Maltitol enables sugars to be substituted in many foods while retaining the same level of taste and texture. A product with lower calorie is possible to make with maltitol due to the fact of maltitol’s 2.4 kcal/g (in EU) energy value while all sugars have 4 kcal/g.
Maltitol should not be mistaken with intense sweeteners. The intensity of sweetness provided by intense sweeteners varies between 100 or 1000 times more than that of sugars, or even more. And therefore only a very small quantity (ppm level) of intense sweeteners singly or in combinations is used to replace as far as the sweetness is concerned in a product, but not the volume in a formulation. As intense sweeteners do not provide the volume of sugar replaced in formulations such as biscuits, cookies, muffins, cakes, ice creams/frozen desserts, jams/jellies, intense sweeteners therefore have limitations. Intense sweeteners are also known as non-nutritive or artificial sweeteners. After-taste, throat irritations, astringent, off-flavour, bitterness, metallic aftertaste are few undesirable characteristics associated with many of the intense sweeteners. Maltitol, on the other hand, just like sugar, brings both sweetness and bulk in a formulation. In addition to that the taste and flavour release in any formulation is comparable and in few applications like dark chocolates and chewing gum flavour release is extraordinary. Maltitol is suitable for all those who wish to restrict their sugar intake and keep control of calories as well as blood glucose response while keeping the same level of indulgence and guilt-free satisfaction. Flavour release, mouthfeel attributes of maltitol is very similar to sugar as shown in Fig 1.
Maltitol can be used in foodstuffs without any health risks. The JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives) attributed an acceptable daily intake (ADI) “not specified” to maltitol. A term applicable to a food substance of very low toxicity which, on the basis of the available data (chemical, biochemical, toxicological, and other), the total dietary intake of the substance arising from its use at the levels necessary to achieve the desired effect and from its acceptable background in food does not represent a hazard to health.
Similar to the digestive discomfort due to excessive consumption of certain fruits such as cherries and prunes and some food ingredients, excessive consumption of maltitol may also cause flatulence and laxative effect, which are again linked to individual sensitivity. The eating amount of BFY products made with maltitol can also influence the consumption pattern of maltitol in individuals. The maltitol intake during consumption of BFY products can be further reduced by combination of maltitol with other bulking agents such as soluble and insoluble fibers. Additionally, there are evidences of prolonged consumption of polyols leads to some adaptation and improved tolerance (from book: Sweeteners and Sugar Alternatives in Food Technology, edited by Helen Mitchell, 2006).
In USA, maltitol has self-affirmed ‘generally regarded as safe’ (GRAS) status. There, only products containing sorbitol, mannitol and polydextrose are required to carry a warning level that ‘excessive consumption can cause a laxative effect’. In EU a warning level is required when the polyol comprises 10% or more of the food product. In Codex Alimentarious if the food provides a daily intake of polyols in excess of 20 g there should be a statement on label to the effect that the food may have a laxative effect. This is not mandatory, however, just a guideline.
In India, maltitol was already approved in PFA for chewing gums, bubble gums, sugar based and sugar-free confectionery, chocolates, lozenges applications as per GMP. Recently, the applications was extended to bakery products, ice-creams, frozen desserts, jam, jelly and marmalades as per GMP through G.S.R.652(E) notification. As per G.S.R.488(E), every package of food containing polyols shall bear ‘polyols may have laxative effect’ label.
Official bodies related to public health recommends cutting down of added sugars in processed foods with the aim of preventing diet related chronic diseases. Maltitol is one of the best alternative for sugars and is very widely used throughout the world in many BFY products such as sugar-free chewing gums, chocolates and bakery products. It has become the benchmark ingredient for no added sugars chocolates and sugar-free chewing gums. Few products with maltitol existing world-wide are: Fine Diet Cookies, Csenti, Italy; Daliyuan Fragrant Cakes, Fujian Dali Group, China; Sugar Free Biscuits with Basil Seeds, Tsan Yu Yen Food, Malaysia; Diet Nature Cookies, Galletas
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