CHICAGO—According to a recently released report from Datamonitor, “The Future of Sweeteners: Consumer Insight and Product Opportunities,” U.S. consumer reliance on sugar and other caloric sweeteners is double the global average, accounting for 17.1% of their total energy intake. Germany and the Netherlands tie for second at 13.7%.
“As a source of energy, our love affair with anything sweet continues as we rely heavily on sugar and sweeteners,” notes Katrina Diamonon, consumer analyst, Datamonitor. “The United States is dependent upon sugar to keep going rather than more-nutritious foods such as cereals. U.S. energy from cereals is less than half that of the global average.”
U.S. consumers currently tend to focus more attention on cutting fat out of their diet rather than sugar. Some other countries have a much higher collective attention paid to the amount of sugar they consume. In the United Kingdom, 37% of consumers report that they pay a great deal of attention to the amount of sugar they consume. In Australia, that number climbs to 40%.
However, more U.S. consumers have begun basing product-purchasing decisions on nutritional criteria, with 51% using nutritional information on product packaging to make food and drink choices—a number that exceeds the global average of 44%. According to Datamonitor, this suggests consumers may be building awareness of their need to curb sugar intake and pay greater attention to nutritional choices.
As more people begin paying a higher degree of attention to the amount of sugar they consume, alternatives like stevia—a natural, calorie-free sweetener—are leading the way versus artificial sweeteners. As noted by Confectionerynews.com, Mintel has found that more than 100 stevia-containing products have been released in the United States this year—and progressively more are on the way. Mintel anticipates sales of stevia-sweetened products to hit $2 billion by 2011.
However, stevia still faces an uphill climb as formulators work to mitigate off-flavor issues—and deal with its high price tag, something that can be attributed to its early stage of market development.
Stevia is a genus of about 240 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family (Asteraceae), native to subtropical and tropical regions from western North America to South America. The species Stevia rebaudiana, commonly known as sweetleaf, sweet leaf, sugarleaf, or simply stevia, is widely grown for its sweet leaves. As a sweetener and sugar substitute, stevia's taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, although some of its extracts may have a bitter or licorice-like aftertaste at high concentrations.
With its extracts having up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, stevia has garnered attention with the rise in demand for low-carbohydrate, low-sugar food alternatives. Medical research has also shown possible benefits of stevia in treating obesity and high blood pressure. Because stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose, it is attractive as a natural sweetener to people on carbohydrate-controlled diets.
The availability of stevia varies from country to country. In a few countries, it has been available as a sweetener for decades or centuries; for example, stevia is widely used as a sweetener in Japan where it has been available for decades. In some countries, stevia is restricted or banned. In other countries, health concerns and political controversies have limited its availability; for example, the United States banned stevia in the early 1990s unless labeled as a supplement, but in 2008 approved rebaudioside-A extract as a food additive. Over the years, the number of countries in which stevia is available as a sweetener has been increasing.
In my opinion, stevia is an excellent and safe product that is on a upward swing in the United States.
Sources:
- Datamonitor: “The Future of Sweeteners: Consumer Insight and Product Opportunities”
- Confectionerynews.com: Concern over sugar consumption fuelling stevia market, analysts
- Food Product Design: Stevia's Rising, But U.S. Still Sweet on Sugar
.gif)