Healthier Junk Food?

For a long time now, we have had a love/hate relationship with junk food.  On the one hand, we know those empty calories aren’t good for us. On the other hand, we love our sweets, and our crispy, salty snacks. 

Food manufacturers love them too. Because they are relatively cheap to manufacture, extremely shelf-stable, and irresistible.  Unlike fresh fruits and vegetables, which continue to be a hard sell, sweets and snacks practically sell themselves -- and have a very healthy profit margin.

But what if we could make those snacks and sweets healthier? Wouldn’t it be great if we could eat the foods we love without the consequences?

Two new ingredients seem to offer exactly that.

Real sugar without the calories

Allulose is a rare form of sugar that’s has only 1/10th the calories of regular sugar and a very low glycemic impact. This is not an artificial sweetener. It’s actually a naturally occurring sugar molecule that’s present in very small amounts in a few foods, including wheat and figs.

Food scientists have now figured out a way to mass produce allulose from fructose, using an enzymatic process. And you’re soon going to be seeing this ingredient showing up in processed foods in a big way.

As a naturally occurring sugar that’s already present in the food supply, it is presumed to be safe when consumed in moderate amounts. (Although our capacity for immoderation apparently knows no bounds.) In addition, human and animal studies using this ingredient have raised no safety concerns so the FDA has given it the green light.

Allulose is about 70% as sweet as regular table sugar but because it is largely unmetabolized, it provides virtually no calories.  It has a little bit of that cool-on-the-tongue sensation that you might know from sugar alcohols like erythritol, but none of the bitter taste associated with artificial sweeteners like sucralose or aspartame. And unlike sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners, allulose provides bulk, moisture retention, and browning capacity more similar to regular sugar, making it a very attractive sugar substitute.

Another thing thing that makes allulose extremely appealing to food manufacturers is the FDA’s recent ruling that it does not have to be included in sugars or added sugars on the Nutrition Facts label.

We know from consumer research that consumers have become very focused on sugar and added sugar, so not having to include allulose in those numbers on the label makes sweet products made with allulose look much better.  And because allulose is a naturally occurring sweetener, manufacturers can also say that the product contains no artificial sweeteners. 

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