Sugar, or highly refined sucrose, remains the gold standard for flavor and desired sweetness in bakery products. Bakers are comfortable working with sugar. To replace sugar, they must find an ingredient with an identical sweetness profile that also adds volume and maintains crumb texture. Sugar also stimulates the Maillard reaction, or browning of products.

Despite sugar's many functions, many bakers either are searching for a more healthful product profile or are formulating specialty products for the diabetic market. The quest for sugar replacements has been revitalized by the introduction of some new ingredients that perform many of the same functions as sugar.

Substitution dilemma

Nirvana for any food formulator is an ingredient that offers a one for one substitution without requiring reformulation or processing equipment adjustments. Natur Research Foods, Los Angeles, Calif., managed to do just that with its all-natural sweetener blend for baked products. Its proprietary blend of fruit and vegetable sugars, together with organic cane juice crystals, replaces sugar on a one to one basis while maintaining sweetness and product structure. In addition, the ingredient has 40 percent fewer calories than cane sugar and a low glycemic index.

“The baking industry is concerned with the increasing costs of ingredients for the products they make and the ‘what and how’ of operations is probably being redefined due to rising costs of ingredients,” says Loren Miles, C.E.O., Natur Research Foods.

This offers bakers an opportunity “to make a product for a market that will pay a higher price for a specialized quality product,” he adds.

Unlike polyols, a common sugar replacer, Natur's proprietary blend triggers the Maillard reaction. “We spent years developing that aspect of our product; it is vitally important to the commercial baker,” he adds.

Liquid Gold

Honey, another common sugar replacer, is a unique natural mixture of carbohydrates and other substances (38.2 percent fructose, 31.0 percent glucose, 17.1 percent water, 7.2 percent maltose, 4.2 percent trisaccharides and other higher carbohydrates, 1.5 percent sucrose, and 0.5 percent minerals, vitamins and enzymes according to USDA). Honey contains antioxidants, with higher levels in darker-colored floral honey.

Honey adds sweetness and prolongs the shelf life of bread products. Breads made with honey tend to have a prolonged shelf life because of the presence of the fructose in honey, a highly hygroscopic (readily taking up and retaining moisture) carbohydrate. Bakers should be aware that sweet bread formulated with honey changes its color characteristics depending on the amount of honey in the formulation and what type of honey is used. Clover honey is much lighter, for example, than other varieties. The National Honey Board, Longmont, Colo., has more information on honey varieties.

Formulators should be aware that moisture levels vary according to the type of honey, and adjust accordingly. Once adjustments are made, however, honey can assist with improved product functionality and quality. For example, a common problem with frozen dough is that gluten proteins are damaged during freezing and dough strength is weakened with storage. Research determined honey, at a level as little as 4 percent, improved frozen dough strength, increased volume, reduced staling and produced bread rated significantly better than breads without honey.

Polyols for all

The polyol category of sugar replacers offers many positives. Polyols are excluded from the term “sugars” on a food's ingredient legend, and are instead labeled as “sugar alcohols” at about 70 percent to 75 percent solids, according to Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 101.9. Sugar alcohols are slowly absorbed, primarily in the small intestine, resulting in a lowered caloric value, as well as a lowered glycemic and insulinemic response.

The FDA has allowed a health claim under Title 21 CFR 101.80 to note that sugar alcohols do not promote dental cavities.

On the other hand, sugar alcohols, such as maltitol, at high levels can cause a laxative effect. Children, because of their relatively low body weight, are even more susceptible than adults to sorbitol-induced diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms. Although this is more of an issue with gums and candies, bakers should carefully consider levels of inclusion and the intended audience.