In the formulation of reduced sugar food and beverage products, ingredient trends are shifting towards clean label, natural alternatives that provide sweetness without compromising taste or texture.

“GURU Zero Wild Berry has already proven to be a huge success from the start, with our unique organic, zero-sugar formula, metabolism-boosting properties and unparalleled taste,” said Luc Martin-Privat, PharmD, GURU's brewmaster and vice president of R&D and innovation.

More than half of all participants in a recent survey report actively reducing their sugar consumption. US consumers also try to limit or reduce purchases of high sugar ingredients. Interestingly, consumers are unwilling to give up indulgences and they also look for healthier versions of indulgent foods.

As we look toward 2025, the focus on sugar reduction will only intensify. Consumer demand for healthier, lower-sugar options is driving innovation at an unprecedented pace, and ingredient suppliers are responding with increasingly sophisticated solutions. From new plant-based sweeteners to advanced blended systems, the future of sugar reduction is bright—and product developers have more tools than ever to meet these evolving needs.

The company’s new sugar alternative is stated to combine sustainability and full-bodied taste without increasing carbon emissions.

Better Juice’s enzymatic technology is based on non-GMO microorganisms that naturally transform fruit juice’s composition of sucrose, glucose and fructose into prebiotic oligosaccharides and other non-digestible fibers.

A confiscated package of street drugs was characterized by the usual mass spectral (MS) and FT–IR analyses. The confiscated powder material was highly crystalline and was found to consist of two very different species, accidentally of sizes convenient for X-ray diffraction. Thus, one each was selected and redundant com­plete sets of data were collected at 100 K using Cu Kα radiation. The selected crystals contained: (a) 1,2-diphenyl-2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)ethanone hy­dro­chloride hemihydrate or 1-(2-oxo-1,2-di­phenyl­eth­yl)pyrrolidin-1-ium chloride hemihydrate, C18H20NO+·Cl−·0.5H2O, (I), a synthetic cathinone called `α-D2PV', and (b) the sugar myo-inositol, C6H12O6, (II), probably the only instance in which the drug and its diluent have been fully characterized from a single confiscated sample. Moreover, the structural details of both are rather attractive showing: (i) inter­esting hydrogen bonding observed in pairwise inter­actions by the drug mol­ecules, mediated by the chloride counter-anions and the waters of crystallization, and (ii) π–π inter­actions in the case of the phenyl rings of the drug which are of two different types, namely, π–π stacking and edge-to-π. Finally, the inositol crystallizes with Z' = 2 and the resulting diastereoisomers were examined by overlay techniques.

Graphic novelist and artist Charles Burns, at the Mohn Broadcast Center, 9/18/2014. He's just completed his trilogy with the new book Sugar Skull.; Credit: John Rabe

Graphic novelist Charles Burns stopped by the Mohn Broadcast Center to talk with Off-Ramp host John Rabe about "Sugar Skull," which completes the trilogy that includes "X'ed Out" and "The Hive."  He's doing a signing tonight (Thurday, Sept. 18) at Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz.

Why the trilogy? Burns says, "I had finished another book, "Black Hole," which was this very long graphic novel, all in black and white, and I wanted to do something in color, so I conceived a series of books, based on a series of my life, late '70s, the Punk Era. It started that way, and then it turned into something else."

RELATED: Miniaturist Alan Wolfson, or "Honey! I shrunk the strip club!"

The look of Burns' books:

... is drawn from one of his childhood favorites, the Belgian Tintin, who had all sorts of politically incorrect adventures:

"It's called the clear-line school of comics. And it's exactly what it sounds like: very clear lines, but perfectly rendered in color."

If there's more shadow in Burns' books than in Herge's, that's because the lines between good and bad, dark and light, reality and unreality are blurrier in Burns. The trilogy moves back and forth in time and place, including between the normal world and a bizarre world in which a character named Johnny 23 struggles with many of the same issues the protagonist in the real world, Doug, faces... including a pregnant girlfriend.

(From Sugar Skull, by Charles Burns. )

Are they two separate stories or Doug's subconscious world? Burns won't say. "That's for the reader to figure out. I don't really ever clearly explain those things at all, and I like to leave those things open. Interpretation is great, as far as I'm concerned."

Burns turns 59 on Sept. 27. How does he like approaching 60? "As far as the day-to-day landscape, things are more settled in. But as far as my sweltering, swelling, itching brain, that hasn't changed at all unfortunately."

Scientists may be closing in on a way to let consumers savor the sweet taste of cake, cookies and other culinary delights without the sugar rush. In preliminary tests using a new device developed in-house that allows them to screen for odor compounds in real foods, they have isolated several natural aromatic molecules that could be used to trick our brains into believing that desserts and other foods contain more fat, sugar or salt than they actually do.

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The line of minimally processed snacks features healthy ingredients and savory flavors.

Domino Sugar is sharing an inside look into the hottest 2024 baking trends.

Snack of almonds vs. a high-carbohydrate snack food resulted in a lower blood glucose response and fewer calories consumed over the course of the day.

The purees can be used for bakery items, desserts, and other items.

The tray includes seven snack options including dates, apricots, kiwi, cashews, almonds, peaches, and apples.

The Chopin x Sugarfina Martini Collection has been one of Sugarfina's most successful partnerships to date.

General Mills' Fiber One, the brand known for macro-friendly bars and brownies, has released its latest innovation to help consumers stay on track: Fiber One Donuts.

The collection includes chocolate-covered pretzels, graham crackers, and sandwich cookies, plus strawberry delights and Linzer cookies filled with raspberry jam. 

The box includes chocolate-covered confections like pretzels, cookies, graham crackers, caramel popcorn, pretzel balls, and more.

Ingredient suppliers are stepping up to offer bakers and snack manufacturers a variety of sweeteners to match consumer preferences, from traditional sugar to modern formulations.

The new muffin varieties feature less sugar plus real ingredients like apple and chocolate, and a touch of hidden vegetables.

Solvaira Specialties has announced that it will now be offering VIDOFIBRES BF Sugar Beet Fiber products.

Quest Nutrition has launched its Quest Bake Shop line, featuring Chocolate Brownies, Blueberry Muffins, and Chocolate Chip Muffins.

On average, 83% of consumers are limiting or avoiding sugars in their diets, but the products of particular concern vary widely.

The dark chocolate mini chips, available for commercial baking as well as home baking, contain no refined cane sugar.

Consumer awareness of ingredients and their impact on health continues to grow as information becomes more readily available across multiple platforms.

One-to-one natural drop-in sugar replacer helps cut sugar load in food applications.

Global Organics is proud to recognize its longtime partner, Natíve, for becoming the first Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) sugar producer. 

Bonumose, Inc. has announced the achievement of regulatory and food application milestones in the U.S. and Canada for the low-glycemic, rare sugar tagatose.

The snack and bakery sweetener will be added to Batory’s line of ingredient offerings.

An expert from the company outlines trends in sweeteners, and how producers can deliver.

A leader from Icon Foods explains BFY trends and products that can satisfy consumers.

NutraEx Food, Inc. has launched BI-Sugar, a new plug & play sweetener solution that inhibits the digestion of sugar.

The suppliers are uniting to launch a sustainable farming initiative.

To meet consumers’ preferences for functional beverages and lower sugar content, experts note that beverage-makers are turning to solutions using advanced high-intensity sweeteners, flavor modifiers and maskers to deliver functional beverages without compromising on taste.

With more consumers seeking reduced-sugar or sugar-free drinks, experts note that beverage-makers are turning to sweeteners such as stevia, erythritol, monk fruit and allulose to deliver products without sacrificing on taste.

With consumers’ wellness approach toward weight management, experts highlight how demand for nutritious drinks that support overall well-being is transforming the industry. 

Natural sweeteners are looking to deliver sweet solutions while accommodating consumer demands for less sugar content.

Nixie introduced its new Organic Zero Sugar Soda line with the launch of three varieties: Classic Cola, Root Beer and Ginger Ale.  

Red Bull is expanding its offerings in their zero-sugar lineup, launching two new Red Bull Sugarfree Editions.

Red Bull revealed the anticipated 2024 Red Bull Winter Edition Iced Vanilla Berry, a new seasonal offering that delivers Red Bull Energy Drink with the taste of blueberry and vanilla. For the first time in the Red Bull Editions lineup, this Winter Edition will be available with and without sugar.

BODYARMOR unveiled BODYARMOR ZERO SUGAR, the brand’s first zero sugar sports drink.

DripDrop announced the launch of three new offerings for its Zero Sugar lineup: Zero Sugar Peach, Zero Sugar Watermelon, and a four-flavor Zero Sugar Variety Pack.

This year’s State of the Industry report on juice and juice drinks notes that, as consumers remain concerned about the high sugar content of juice and juice drinks, this has impacted the overall category.

Tropicana launched Tropicana Zero Sugar, a guilt-free juice within the Premium Tropicana Drinks assortment with zero sugar and no artificial sweetener ingredients.

Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc., the agricultural cooperative owned by roughly 700 farmer families, announced the launch of Ocean Spray Zero Sugar Juice Drink, the first beverage from Ocean Spray with zero grams of sugar and no artificial sweeteners.

Sanpellegrino Italian Sparkling Drinks announced the expansion of its beverage collection with the launch of Sanpellegrino Zero Grams Added Sugar.

Naked Brand, a brand of Tropicana Brands Group, Chicago, is launching a new range of lower sugar smoothies just in time for the busy, on-the-go summer season. 

Welch’s Zero Sugar hits shelves on Sept. 1. The juice line is available in two refrigerated flavors ― Passion Fruit and Grape ―as well as three shelf-stable flavors ― Tropical Punch, Strawberry and Concord Grape ― in multi-serve and single-serve formats. 

SugarDaddyMeet was launched back in 2007 and is one of the premium sugar dating sites in the world. It recently shared the best Christmas dating ideas for sugar daddies to help them out.

Valentine's Day is an important holiday for Sugar Daddies and Sugar Babies. SugarDaddyMeet has suggestions on how to make the day a special one.