Better Juice, Ltd. has expanded its innovative sugar-reduction technology to lower the sugar loads in fruit sorbets. This will grant manufacturers new opportunities to give their products a better-for-you upgrade. The Rehovot, Israel-based food tech start-up will showcase the reduced sugar sorbet at the July 15-17 IFT Expo in Chicago.
The ingredient list of the frosty scoops typically includes around 50% puréed fruit, added sugars or alternative sweeteners and water. Sorbets are generally viewed by consumers as refreshing innocent delights to cool down with in the summer, imbued with natural goodness from real fruits.
The Scoop on Lowering Sugar
The downside to sorbets is their naturally high sugar content.
“Even products claiming zero added sugar still house approximately 6% to 10% percent sugar from the fruit juice concentrates alone,” said Gali Yarom, co-founder and chief executive officer of Better Juice. “Sorbet’s glycemic index typically surpasses that of ice cream because it contains sugar from the fruits and no fat, leading to quicker absorption of sugars into the bloodstream.”
To create sugar-reduced sorbets, the company successfully adapted its patent-protected technology to process fruit concentrates and purées, the core ingredient of sorbets. Sorbets were produced in a range of flavors, including apple, orange, and strawberry, reducing sugar content by 50% to-70% and calories by 40%.
Better Juice’s enzymatic technology is based on non-GMO microorganisms that naturally transform fruit juice’s composition of sucrose, glucose and fructose into prebiotic oligosaccharides and other non-digestible fibers, without any impact on their natural complex of vitamins, fiber and nutrients. The fruit juices are treated in continuous-flow columns that contain immobilized sugar-reducing beads.
“We succeeded in creating delicious sorbets with as little as 2% percent sugar,” said Yarom. “Our treated sorbets possess a more gentle sweetness yet retain all their characteristic fruity notes and flavor. Yet they have fewer calories and a lower glycemic index.”
According to a recent report from Innova Markets Insights, sugar reduction has been the primary focus for confectionary innovators responding to consumer demand for more nutritious formats without sacrificing flavor.
Sorbet or Ice Cream?
Better Juice will provide its technological breakthrough to ice cream chains and CPG ice cream and sorbet manufacturers via small, easy to use plug-in units that contain the patented immobilized enzymes. Manufacturers will be able to reduce the sugar content of their products, including ice creams with fruit, at desired levels of up to 80%.
Ice cream makers will alternatively have the option of sourcing reduced sugar concentrates from other B2B/C Juice manufacturers in the United States holding agreements with the company to install the sugar-reduction device in their facilities.
Better Juice recently obtained self-affirmed GRAS status from the US Food and Drug Administration, allowing it to sell its products in America. The company will initially commercialize its solution for sorbet and ice cream in the USA but also plans to extend its services to Europe and other regions.
“This accomplishment showcases our ability to broaden the scope of applications that our technology can apply to,” said Eran Blachinsky, PhD, co-founder and chief technology officer of Better Juice. “Its potential goes beyond just fruit juices to any product that contains real fruit components, such as jams and fruit roll-ups which are also in the pipeline for a Better Juice sugar reduction makeover. We deliver good news to consumers who are consciously seeking to reduce their sugar intake or with sugar sensitivities without having to give up the enjoyment of these sweet delights.”
Last January, Better Juice, announced its collaboration with Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE: INGR), a global provider of specialty ingredients. Ingredion Ventures, Ingredion’s venture investment arm, will lead the Series A funding round for Better Juice which will fast-track penetration of its breakthrough sugar-reduction solution into the US juice market.
About the Company
Better Juice, Ltd., was founded in 2018 by a team of biochemists and microbiologists from industry and The Hebrew University in Jerusalem to help beverage manufacturers produce better-for-you, lower-sugar fruit juice. Their technology earned several patents, and the company was initially funded and supported by The Kitchen Hub, Strauss Group’s food-tech incubator Better Juice now has an advanced plant operating to fully serve clients.
