Sugar Association News - The Sugar Packet
Social Share: Blind Taste Test Confirms: Sugar Is The Gold Standard of Sweeteners
A recent Huffington Post blind taste test confirms what The Sugar Association has
been stressing for years—sugar is the gold standard of sweeteners and your taste
buds know the difference! The actual headline of the HP article reads: "Sugar vs.
Artificial Sweetener: Which Wins A Taste Test?"
Huffington Post editors tested 10 sweeteners, including real sugar and artificial
sweeteners by adding the equivalent of a teaspoon of sugar into eight ounces of
black tea. Editors then rated the taste on a scale of 1 to 10.
The result? According to the reviewers, real sugar tastes better than any artificial
sweetener.
A couple of the rave reviews included: "Sugar, is that you? Whatever you are,
you're pleasing." "That's the stuff. 100% happiness."
Which leaves one important question—how do you know you are getting all
natural sugar we know and love in the products you buy for you and your family?
We encourage you to watch our newest educational video, "There's Only One
Sugar," which aims to distinguish all-natural sugar from man-made sweeteners
and clear up consumer confusion.
In This Issue...
Blind Taste Test Confirms: Sugar Is The
Gold Standard of Sweeteners
The Sugar Association Educates
Attendees at Food & Nutrition
Conference and Expo
Mid-Calorie Beverage Products Utilizing
Natural Sugar Report Success
Sugar: An Essential Ingredient For
Successful Holiday Baking
Look Who's Switching to
Sugar...
Dublin Bottling Works produces a
line of delicious sodas made
exclusively with pure cane sugar.
The answer is clear. Consumers should check the ingredient list at the bottom of
the Nutrition Facts Panel carefully—because there's only one sugar, and it's
spelled S-U-G-A-R!
http://www.inboxgroup.net/sugar/index000719122.cfm[11/25/2014 12:22:53 PM]
Whish Three Whishes Sugar
Scrub renews and polishes with
its unique combination of organic
sugar cane, brown sugar,
raspberry seeds and bamboo
powder.
Sugar Association News - The Sugar Packet
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The Sugar Association Educates Attendees at Food & Nutrition Conference
and Expo
Each fall, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics sponsors the Food & Nutrition
Conference and Expo (FNCE), the world's largest meeting of food and nutrition
experts. More than 10,000 registered dietitians, nutrition science researchers,
policy makers, health-care providers and industry leaders attend the annual
meeting aimed at addressing key issues affecting the health of all Americans.
More on Consumer Confusion
Fact Sheet: Consumers have a right to
know about sweeteners
Audio: Consumer Sweetener Confusion
News Release
See what new sweetener labels might
look like
Visit Our Website
www.sugar.org
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The Sugar Packet
October 31, 2014
The Sugar Packet
September 16, 2014
The Sugar Association participated in this important event again this year, hosting
a booth at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta October 18-21. Staff
members assisted a steady flow of visitors in answering questions and clearing up
misconceptions about all natural sugar. Attendees were also encouraged to pick
up educational materials for outreach in their communities.
The FNCE conference is one of several events at which The Sugar Association
exhibits each year. But you don't have to attend one of these events to access our
educational publications. These materials are only a few mouse clicks away at
http://www.sugar.org/publications. Our publications provide all types of
information about sugar, nutrition and health, many including fun and educational
activities for all age groups. Some of the publications available electronically for
FREE include:
About Sugar
How Well Do You Know Sugar?
The Functional Role of Sugar in Cooking and Baking
Test Your Label IQ
Refining and Processing Sugar
Sugar's Healing Power
A Journey with Sugar Cane and Sugar Beet
Natural Sugar: From the Field to the Table
Sugar: Not Empty Calories
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Sugar Association News - The Sugar Packet
Sugar Intake: Not a Major Source of Increased Calories
Should you have a question about sugar that is not answered on our website
(www.sugar.org) or in our informational brochures, please contact us.
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Mid-Calorie Beverage Products Utilizing Natural Sugar Report Success
New mid-calorie products utilizing natural sugar
are reporting early success, according to
recent media coverage by FoodNavigatorusa.com.
Both Coca Cola and Pepsi have rolled out midcalorie products (Coke Life and Pepsi True,
respectively), that involve the use of natural
sugar.
The sugar-and-stevia-sweetened Coca-Cola Life is now available in stores
nationwide following trials in The Fresh Market stores in four U.S. states.
Pepsi True, meanwhile, is currently available exclusively on Amazon.
Perhaps PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi summed up the reasons behind the
beverages' popularity on an earnings call last year: "People say they don't want
artificial sweeteners. They want natural sweeteners. They don't mind some
calories. They want to go back to sugar in some cases." We agree!
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Sugar: An Essential Ingredient For Successful Holiday Baking
The holiday season is right around the corner,
which means it's the perfect time to remind our
readers that no matter which recipe you use,
whether you pull it from your favorite cookbook,
grandma's recipe box, or even your local
newspaper, chances are natural sugar will be the
sweetener of choice, just as it has been for
centuries.
We all know the important role sugar plays as a
sweetener and flavor enhancer, but sugar (and
the amount called for in standard baked goods)
also plays a critical role in the science of baking.
Ever wondered, for example, about the secret behind that golden brown, flavorful
and slightly crisp surface of breads, cakes, and cookies that not only tastes great,
but also helps retain moisture in the product?
The answer is sugar. Sugar caramelizes when heated above its melting point,
sealing in flavor and leading to surface browning, which improves moisture
retention in baked products.
At oven temperatures, sugar also interacts with proteins in the baking product. The
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Sugar Association News - The Sugar Packet
myriad of changes – known technically as "Maillard reactions" – are the second
way in which bread crusts, cakes and cookies get their familiar tastes and colors.
Sugar also plays an integral role in helping promote lightness in cakes and cookies
by incorporating air into the shortening. Air is trapped on the face of sugar's
irregular crystals. When sugar is mixed with shortening, this air becomes
incorporated as very small air cells. During baking, these air cells expand when
filled with carbon dioxide and other gases from the leavening agent.
In foam-type cakes, sugar interacts with egg proteins to stabilize the whipped foam
structure. In doing so, sugar makes the egg foam more elastic so that air cells can
expand.
In unshortened cakes, on the other hand, sugar molecules disperse among egg
proteins and delay coagulation of the egg proteins during baking. As the
temperature rises, egg proteins coagulate, or form bonds among each other. The
sugar molecules raise the temperature at which bonds form between these egg
proteins by surrounding the egg proteins and interfering with bond formations.
Once the egg proteins coagulate, the cake "sets," forming the solid mesh-like
structure of the cake.
Last but certainly not least, sugar also helps prevent cracking of some cookies. As
sugar crystallizes, it gives off heat that evaporates the water it absorbed during
mixing and baking. At the same time, leavening gases expand and cause
cracking of the dry surface.
These are just a few examples of the many ways all natural sugar works in batters
and doughs and how it works together with other ingredients in some popular
holiday recipes to create the wonderful baked goods we all love this time of year.
For more information on sugar's role in bakery foods, download our handbook on
sugar’s role in food preparation.
When it comes to holiday baking, there is no product as versatile and essential as
all natural sugar.
Happy Holiday Baking!
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