Intense sweeteners provide sweetness, the amount supplied – i.e. the relative sweetness of all intense sweetness – will depend on application.
Intense sweeteners do not supply the mouth feel of sugar and in some cases, they may supply undesirable side tastes or prove to be incompatible with some flavors.
For these reasons, use of intense sweeteners in soft drinks is rarely a case of direct substation of sucrose in the regular product formulations; more often than not, total reformulation is necessary.
It may be necessary to adjust the acidity and use buffers to assist stability of some sweeteners.
Some adjustment of flavor system used is commonly required and the use of gums or small amounts of sugars can improve mouth feel and control fobbing during filling.
Use of ingredients that mask undesirable side tastes may also be required.
Increasing the carbonation of low calorie products may also help mask undesirable side tastes and give the illusion of better mouth feel.
Sweetness synergy occurs with many combinations of intense (and bulk) sweeteners. The effects can be twofold: a higher perceived sweetness than would be expected from the theoretical sum of the relative sweetness values of the individual used and in some cases, a marked improvement in taste quality of sweetness that have undesirable side tastes.
The optimum sweetener system will vary depending on the product and will not necessarily be a sweetener blend.
However if a sweetener blend is to be used , useful starting point often quoted for blends of two intense sweeteners is that sweeteners are used in an inverse ratio to their relative sweetness (to each other), so that each sweetener contributes 50% of the total sweetness.
Use of Intense Sweeteners in Soft Drinks
