Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/1038152
Produce Show Daily 2 5 Friday, October 19, 2018 The Scramble to Find New Sugar Substitutes By Robin Mather As evidence mounts about sugar's effects on the body, consumers across genera- tional segments are driving new demand for alternative sweeteners, and manufac- turers are responding. Millennials may lead the charge, says global market research company Mintel, but the desire to cut back on sugar spans all generational segments. "Sugar reduction is a trend among most consumers (89 percent)," Mintel says in a 2017 report, noting that Millennials have more reason than other segments to make this change. While almost all consumers agree that cutting sugar helps with weight loss, younger consumers also cite other con- cerns, such as dental health and improv- ing the appearance of their skin, Mintel says. What's new is that consumers want to avoid both sugar and chemical artifi- cial sweeteners such as aspartame and saccharine, not just sugar alone. Instead, they're looking for natural sweeteners, including stevia, maple syrup, monkfruit, agave syrup and allulose. They're more comfortable with sugar alcohol sweeten- ers such as sorbitol and xylitol, and they accept erythritol, a natural sweetener made from glucose fermented with yeast that's been around since the mid-1800s. "We've seen non-nutritive sweeten- ers starting to increase, largely driven by stevia," said Stephanie Mattucci, an Associate Director of Food Science at Mintel, in a 2017 interview with Beverage Daily. The Mintel report showed that nearly half the consumers surveyed believed that diet soda is as unhealthy as regular soda, the story said. Changes in FDA Nutrition Panel Ahead Manufacturers are rushing to get their formulations lined up because of changes to the nutrition facts panel scheduled to take place in 2020. That's when manu- facturers will be required to list added sugars on the nutrition label. Manufacturers are working on for- mula changes now, in part because each of the sugar substitutes, whether they are alternative forms of sugar such as agave or monkfruit, or non-caloric ingredients such as stevia, brings its own set of headaches to the mix. Common headaches for the formulation team include off flavors, failure to brown in baking, and an inability to assume sugar's role in the chemistry of baking. There's a newcomer on the scene that solves all those problems. It's allu- lose, created by a natural enzymatic reaction with the fructose in figs, raisins, beets and corn. Though it's only 70 per- cent as sweet as sugar, it has no aftertaste, has a tenth of sugar's calories but it does- n't raise blood sugar as white sugar — sucrose — does. It can play sugar's role in baked goods, and it browns in baking. Additionally, it costs less that either ste- via or monkfruit. It has been rumored that the FDA will add a line for allulose on the nutri- tion facts labels, just has it has done for sugar alcohols. Manufacturers could explain allulose's benefits on labels. But many manufacturers are banking on more familiar substitutes. "Stevia has definitely had an uptick," says William Donahoe, Vice President of Consumer Products for Born Sweet Zing sweeteners, a line of spoon- able and baking sugar substitutes sweet- ened with stevia that's a subsidiary of Domino, the sugar giant. "Chemical- based sweeteners are definitely declin- ing." He says that he's seeing consumers turning to "less white and more brown" in their sweeteners, propelled in large part by their desire for organic ingredi- ents. "Definitely, from what I've seen of the millennial market, they want clean label, natural, sometimes organic ingredi- ents," says Leopoldo Cruz DiPasa, Managing Director and CEO of Dipasa USA, based in Brownsville, Texas. His company produces tapioca, agave and hibiscus syrups in cooperation with Mexican growers. Beyond their love of clean, transparent labeling, Millennials also want ingredients sourced in fair and sustainable ways. "These are fair trade, sustainably produced ingredients," he says. "All these products support whole communities and support permanent ben- eficial development." Another alternative sweetener, maple syrup, is a growing force in the segment, and it's especially popular with customers in their 50s and above, says Jackson Dowd, Head of Marketing and Sales for Mount Mansfield Maple of Winooski, Vermont, which has been fam- ily-owned for five generations. "Maple has antioxidants and minerals that sugar doesn't have," he says. Consumers on a quest for healthful ingredients appreciate that, he says. On the sugar alcohol side, Amy Davis, Education Coordinator and Product Specialist for Swerve, says she thinks the change in consumer behavior is "mostly health driven." While "sugar will always be cheaper than alternative sweeteners for companies to use," she says, Swerve, made from erythritol com- ing from non-GMO sources in France and the United States, is a great alterna- tive for consumers. "Swerve isn't a chemical sweetener," she says. "It's already being used in Quest bars and Halo Top ice cream." Organic Producers Press Court Fight over Animal Welfare The Organic Trade Association ratcheted up its court battle against the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the agency's failure to put into effect new organic livestock standards, with two of America's most influential animal wel- fare groups joining the association in its ongoing legal fight to incorporate animal welfare standards into the definition of "organic." In a new filing that revised the origi- nal complaint against USDA to reflect the department's move to withdraw the rule, the Organic Trade Association was joined by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) as co-plaintiffs in the suit. USDA on March 13 announced its intention to withdraw the final regulation on May 13, contending that the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) gives the National Organic Program the authority to regulate only veterinary medications, not animal care, welfare or production stan- dards. The Organic Trade Association's amended complaint argues that this new claim by USDA is a "novel and erroneous" view of OFPA that "conflicts with every prior administration's approach to rulemak- ing under the OFPA and the National Organic Standards Board." "We welcome the critical support of our friends in the animal welfare commu- nity in standing up against the Administration's attack on this important organic standard," said Laura Batcha, CEO and Executive Director of the Organic Trade Association. "In USDA's attempt to kill this fully vetted final reg- ulation, they've taken a radical departure from conclusions reached over more than 20 years of rulemakings regarding organ- ic livestock care, and have assumed an aberrant view that has no historical basis or legal justification." The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is North America's oldest humane organi- zation with roughly 2.7 million support- ers nationwide. The Animal Welfare Institute is a non-profit charitable organi- zation dedicated to reducing animal suf- fering caused by people, and has sought to improve the welfare of farm animals since the early 1950s. The Organic Trade Association is also challenging USDA's assertion that it does not have to consult with the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) — the advisory board to the National Organic Program established by OFPA — before withdrawing the regulation. "The organic standard-making process established by Congress requires consulta- tion with the National Organic Standards Board to make or amend existing organic standards," said Batcha. "The day the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices final regulation was published, it became the regulation of the National Organic Program. Withdrawal of this regulation requires NOSB's consultation and review." The Organic Trade Association said that USDA continues to flagrantly disre- gard and refuse to consider the over- whelming support from the public for the organic animal welfare rule. "USDA knows the public overwhelm- ingly supports the implementation of the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices (OLPP) regulation. Indeed, in its announce- ment to withdraw the rule, USDA noted that out of the 72,000 comments it received, over 63,000 opposed the withdrawal of the final rule, and that only 50 supported its withdrawal," said Batcha. "But despite the clear evidence of the public sentiment, USDA is acting against the will of the pub- lic, and the will of the organic sector." The Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices final rule was published on Jan. 19, 2017, after more than a decade of extensive public input and a thorough vetting process. Before the final with- drawal, the government had attempted six times – either through the rulemaking process or through court filings — to delay the implementation of the rule. The regulation addresses four broad areas of organic livestock and poultry practices: living conditions, animal healthcare, transport, and slaughter. Most importantly, it stops the use of "porches" from being allowed in organic poultry production and requires producers to give their poultry access to the outdoors. The Organic Trade Association filed its lawsuit against USDA last September over the department's delays in the imple- mentation of the OLPP regulation. The lawsuit argues that USDA violated the Organic Foods Production Act by failing to consult with NOSB on the rollback of the final organic standard, and unlawfully delayed the effective date of the final live- stock standards developed by industry and in accordance with the established rule- making processes. The suit also argues that USDA issued its repeated delays without the required public process, and that USDA ignored the overwhelming public record established in support of these organic stan- dards. Those arguments still stand. Since the filing of the lawsuit, support for the legal action against USDA has grown. A host of organic stakeholders rep- resenting thousands of organic farming families, organic certifiers and organic poli- cymakers – along with leading retail brands and groups speaking out for millions of con- sumers — have supported the suit as declar- ants harmed by the USDA action. The declarants include George Siemon, CEO of Organic Valley/CROPP Cooperative; Gina Asoudegan, Vice President of Mission and Innovation Strategy for Applegate; Jesse Laflamme, co-founder of Pete & Gerry's Eggs; Robynn Schrader, CEO of National Co+op Grocers; Kyla Smith, Chair of Directors for the Accredited Certifiers Association (ACA); and Tom Chapman, Chairman of the National Organic Standards Board and Director of Ingredient Sourcing at Clif Bar & Company. In addition to the lawsuit's co-plain- tiffs, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) filed a separate lawsuit on Jan. 12 against USDA for withdrawing the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices regulation. HSUS is the largest animal protection group in the country with some 10 million members. "Support for our lawsuit is rapidly growing," said Batcha. "Being organic is a choice, and all of our organic stake- holders — from farmers to retailers — work hard every day to voluntarily abide by organic standards. They want clear consistent standards. Consumers want clear consistent organic standards. We call upon the government to act responsi- bly as the steward of our federal organic program. That is what the organic com- munity wants, what consumers expect and what the law mandates."