Use of Intense Sweeteners in Soft Drinks

Use of sweeteners in soft drinks is not restricted to low calorie or dietetic products. In some countries, particularly where sugar price are comparatively high, intense sweeteners are used in combination with sugar or glucose syrups to give more efficient formulations. 

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

The Softdrinks

The Softdrinks
All softdrinks have a basic compositional structure. First, there is the water that makes up about 87 to 92% of the beverage volume.

The water used is normally separately pretreated to remove impurities, microorganisms and other undesirable attributes, such as off-tastes, odors and turbidity.

It is also treated to regulate alkalinity and hardness. Make no mistake about the fact that water used in softdrinks made by more reputable bottling companies is much more purified than what comes out of the common tap in your house.

Next we have the sweetener, which is usually refined white sugar, though other natural or artificial sweeteners are being used as alternatives.

In a natural sweetened softdrinks, the sugar makes up about 8 to 12% of the beverage by mass.

Another ingredient common to almost all softdrinks is the acidulant. This is term used for any inorganic or organic acid that contributes to the sourness of the beverage.

The balance between sweetens and sourness is what gives it the basic typical taste profile of all flavored softdrinks.

Without this sweetener and acid balance, the beverage would taste totally wishy-washy and unexciting.

To this basic taste background, a flavorant, or a flavorant combination, is added.

Flavorant may be natural, nature identical, or completely synthetic. They are usually in very concentrated forms and give beverages their characteristics tastes.

Flavorant can be c0mpared to perfumes in as much as they also contribute to the smell of the product, which plays an important role in the general overall sensory perception of the drink.

To round off the taste of the softdrinks, colorants are added to the composition when such coloring is considered essential to the visual impact the drink has on the consumer.

Colorant may be natural ingredients but are more commonly synthetic food dyes. They are used in minute quantity individually or in combinations that give us the rainbow spectrum of softdrinks colors we see in the marketplace.
The Softdrinks