FDBusiness.com

Recent global trends in health and wellness have had a significant impact on the food industry, and the dairy market is no exception. Consumers are increasingly looking for healthier food products and search for ways to decrease their sugar intake, which has fueled consumer interest in low and natural sugar dairy products. Skepticism towards low-fat products is growing, with consumers realizing that many low-fat yogurts contain a high amount of added sugar. Dairy manufacturers therefore need to find innovative solutions to respond to customer needs.

Consumers are not only concerned with the health impact of sugar intake, but also the safety and taste implications that artificial sweeteners – used to decrease the sugar content – can have when compared to full-sugar options. As most people like sweet, indulgent products, it is a challenge for yogurt producers to reduce sugar levels in yogurt and yogurt drinks whilst retaining the same taste.

Another key consideration is shelf life – especially in the case of yogurt drinks. Consistent freshness of a product, even when it cannot be stored in a refrigerator, is key to market success. At room temperature, a standard yogurt culture will develop acidity that will change the flavor and also increase decantation, as the layers of liquid will have an increased chance of separation. Therefore, yogurt drinks require stability to stay fresh and tasty, regardless of the storage conditions. This means that the culture used in the fermentation process needs to have limited post-acidification at room temperature.

Sugar Reduction Solutions

Choosing the right ingredients helps yogurt producers to overcome technical challenges and meet customer requirements for reduced-sugar drinkable or even spoonable yogurts that remain fresh, tasty and can still be consumed ‘on the go’.

Sugar lactose is the main carbohydrate in milk and has a low relative sweetness compared to sucrose. By using DSM’s Maxilact^® lactase enzyme, the sweetness of lactose can be doubled, but in a natural way. In fact, lactase breaks down lactose into more easily digested and sweeter forms of sugar: glucose and galactose. These components have a higher relative sweetness than lactose and create a sweetness which is very similar to sucrose. Lactase (also present in the human body) enables sugar to be reduced by up to 20%, without adding other ingredients. A further reduction of up to 50% is possible with the use of other natural sweeteners. Maxilact^® provides a superior sweetness quality, as the profile obtained by using DSM’s solution balances out the otherwise lingering taste of high-intensity sweeteners. This technology improves product stability over shelf life and is very easy to integrate into any production process. It is suitable for organic dairy production and is globally approved and recognized.

To offset any textual challenges while reducing sugar in dairy, DSM’s Delvo^®Yog FVV-122 is the perfect fit. These innovative yogurt cultures allow for the production of high-quality yogurt with a creamy texture and mouthfeel, and a mild stable flavor. The culture demonstrates a very low post-acidifying profile during the fermentation process, compared with standard cultures available on the market. This performance offers flexibility in the cooling process, meaning the quality will not be affected by a long storage time before filling. It also shows low post-acidification during shelf life, even in challenging storage conditions, for example 20 C.

The culture’s superior texture performance when used together with Maxilact^® allows the maintenance of firm texture and mouthfeel in reduced-sugar recipes. There is no need for stabilizers or to compensate for potential texture loss due to the lower dry matter. This optimizes dairy manufacturers’ recipe costs and enables them to offer clean label products.

Healthy and Convenient Yogurts With a Sweet Taste

Yogurt is the ideal format for dairy producers who aim to create a reduced-sugar end product that consumers will enjoy and that will remain competitive in the market. The use of a unique combination of enzymes and cultures can reduce sugar content, whilst offering a more stable end product with increased shelf life.

This means dairy producers can gain a competitive advantage and meet the demands of the growing number of consumers looking for great tasting reduced-sugar yogurt. For more information on DSM’s wide range of solutions for dairy, please visit: www.dsm.com/food.