DEL.ICIO.USCoke, Pepsi cultivate new, natural sweeteners
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Some experts call it the Holy Grail of the beverage industry — an all-natural drink that has the sweetness of sugar but none of the calories.
Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo could be a step closer to reaching that milestone as they separately pursue new sweeteners based on the South American stevia plant. Pending Food and Drug Administration clearance, these stevia-based sweeteners could unleash the next generation of low- and no-calorie beverages, industry experts say.
DETROIT FREE PRESS/KRT
The stevia plant originated in South America. It has been used as a sweetener there and in Asia. Stevia is sweeter than sugar but known for its licorice aftertaste.
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Coke and Pepsi are keeping quiet about what drinks could get the new sweeteners. Coke would not comment about product plans, but the Atlanta-based beverage giant could have a soft drink with its stevia-based sweetener on the market by the end of the year, a person with knowledge of the situation said.
Pepsi, based in Purchase, N.Y., also declined to talk about U.S. product plans. It is launching this month in Peru a version of SoBe Life, a flavored water, that uses its stevia-based sweetener.
Both clearly see promise in the new sweeteners. A natural, no-calorie sweetener that tastes good would be a major breakthrough, said Lou Imbrogno, senior vice president of Pepsi worldwide technical operations.
“Imagine making water and have that be fuel for your vehicle,” Imbrogno said. “It’s similar to where we could have a sweetener without calories that tastes sweet.”
A new stevia-based sweetener won’t replace existing sweeteners, but it could appeal to a growing part of the market, said Rhona Applebaum, Coke vice president and chief scientific and regulatory officer.
“We have a variety of sweeteners out there that we’ve used — all safe sweeteners, all with various functionalities,” Applebaum said. “But more and more we’re seeing that consumers are looking for … a naturally sourced sweetener.”
Both Coke and Pepsi are struggling to increase sales volume in the United States. Carbonated soft drinks, still the companies’ core business, have suffered as consumers look for choices viewed as healthier.
Stevia-based sweeteners could give new life to the U.S. beverage industry, said John Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest.
Beverage-makers are getting better at formulating low-calorie drinks that taste good, Sicher said. But existing sweeteners are artificial, a turnoff for many customers, he said.
“If these new [stevia-based] sweeteners pass a high taste threshold, the companies could use them to try to excite consumers with a whole new round of innovation,” Sicher said.
PureVia, Truvia and FDA
Coke and Pepsi, working with food products partners, took steps earlier this year that could pave the way for stevia-based sweeteners in beverages.
Whole Earth Sweetener Co., Pepsi’s partner in its sweetener project, filed papers May 13 with the FDA for a stevia-based sweetener called PureVia. On May 20, Cargill, Coke’s partner, filed papers with the FDA for a stevia-based sweetener called Truvia.
In both cases, the ingredient is rebaudioside A, a purified form of stevia. Cargill and Whole Earth Sweetener are pushing for clearance through an FDA classification known as “generally recognized as safe.”
The term is reserved for ingredients that are widely regarded by experts as safe for their intended use.
Under this process, companies voluntarily send the FDA material backing up their claims that the ingredient is safe. The FDA does not have a timetable for processing “generally recognized as safe” notifications, but its goal is to respond to requests within 180 days. In the meantime, companies can use the ingredient.
Cargill has started selling Truvia as a tabletop sweetener. Whole Earth Sweetener will launch PureVia as a tabletop sweetener this fall. Coke and Pepsi say they will wait for a response from the FDA before putting the sweeteners in U.S. drinks.
But does it taste good?
Coke and Pepsi, working with their partners, have a good chance at getting clearance because the product is based on a well-known source, experts said. The stevia plant has been used for decades in South America and Asia.
Stevia can be used in the United States as a dietary supplement, but no one has completed the process to establish stevia as a safe food ingredient.
Until recently, the time and money required to pursue a stevia-based sweetener probably did not make sense, said Lyn O’Brien Nabors, president of the Calorie Control Council, an Atlanta-based nonprofit group for the low-calorie and reduced-fat food and beverage industry.
Consumer demand for natural products has grown, making stevia-based products more attractive, Nabors said. The trick is also making it taste good, she said.
Stevia is sweeter than sugar but known for its licorice aftertaste. Both Coke and Pepsi say using rebaudioside A, an extract from the plant, provides a cleaner taste.
“Taste, as we say, is king,” Nabors said. “If the product doesn’t taste good, they’re not going to buy it again.”
The stevia sweeteners follow a long list of attempts at replacing sugar with no-calorie alternatives. (Beverage companies, by the way, started using high-fructose corn syrup instead of sugar in the 1980s, but it matches sugar closely in taste and calories).
The leading artificial sweeteners — saccharin, aspartame, sucralose and Ace-K — have failed to fully replicate sugar’s qualities, said Connie Crawley, a registered dietitian and nutrition and health specialist with the University of Georgia cooperative extension.
“People have been trying it for years and have never been totally successful,” Crawley said. “I’d have to taste it to believe it.”
Convincing consumers
Coke and Pepsi acknowledge the hurdles ahead. A beverage company has to be careful about introducing new ingredients, said Applebaum, Coke’s chief scientific and regulatory officer.
The measured sweetness of an ingredient does not necessarily mean it can be substituted in a beverage and produce the same taste, she said.
“In no way, shape or form do you want to change the taste characteristics of a product, unless it’s going to be so improved that it meets the expectations of the consumer,” Applebaum said. “The consumer is very savvy. The tongue is better than any analytical instrument out there.”
Applebaum declined to say which beverages could get the new sweetener or when they could be introduced. If cleared by the FDA, Truvia will become one of several options considered by Coke, she said.
“The potential of putting your eggs in just one basket is not necessarily the way Coca-Cola does innovation,” Applebaum said.
Pepsi also takes a cautious approach with putting a new sweetener in existing beverages, said Imbrogno, head of Pepsi’s technical operations.
Imbrogno declined to say what beverages could get PureVia.
If PureVia is cleared, Pepsi and Whole Earth Sweetener will have to spend time building consumer awareness of the product, Imbrogno said. It may not be immediately embraced, he said.
“I think it’s just the beginning,” Imbrogno said. “Two years from now, we’ll be writing a different chapter on this in terms of its size and scope.”
Beverage Digest’s Sicher, though, said his sources tell him that the new sweeteners work well in both carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks. Coke and Pepsi are both prepared for rollouts, he said.
“It’s my view that if and when the FDA issues its no-opposition letter on these applications, we could see new products on the market within days if not within hours,” Sicher said.
NATURE’S NO-CALORIE SWEETENER?
The stevia plant has been used for decades as a sweetener in parts of South America and Asia. It’s sweeter than sugar but has a licorice aftertaste.
Coke and Pepsi both hope to use an extract of the stevia plant called rebaudioside A, which is supposed to provide a cleaner, more consistent taste.
The companies, working with food product partners, have filed papers with the FDA asking for rebaudioside A to be classified as an ingredient that’s “generally recognized as safe” by food experts.
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