Archer Daniels Midland Company has been awarded “most innovative food ingredient” for its natural sweetening solution, Fruit Up Fiber, at this year’s Gulfood Manufacturing Industry Excellence Awards, which recognize best practices and innovation within the food manufacturing industry value chain.

Fruit Up Fiber is a source of soluble fiber that provides sweetness with 30 percent less sugar on a dry basis relative to nutritive sweeteners, such as sucrose or glucose, according to the US global food processing and commodities trading corporation.

Based on naturally occurring carbohydrates (sugars, sweetening ingredients, polyols and soluble fibers), Fruit Up Fiber can provide developers with a lower sugar, clean label solution for a wide range of food and beverage applications.

It has a glycemic index of 40, is also non-GMO, and Halal and Kosher certified.

Reduced sugar alternatives growing in popularity
Entries were judged on the additional value the innovations brought to developers, as well as their ability to meet unmet market needs.

Growing regulatory pressure, media scrutiny and changing consumer tastes have led many food and beverage developers to focus on reformulation options to reduce the amount of sugar in their products.

As a result, reduced sugar alternatives are growing in popularity and becoming a necessity for many companies. Meanwhile, consumers continue to look for clean label products that look, smell and taste great.

“Using naturally sourced sweetening ingredients and fibers for sugar reduction gives developers the opportunity to appeal to consumers who are looking to reduce their sugar intake and are also making health and wellness a priority in their eating choices, and Fruit Up Fiber is a great solution to meet this demand,” says Ramesh Sambamoorthy, managing director, Middle East, WILD Flavors and Specialty Ingredients, a business unit of ADM.

“We look forward to showcasing how Fruit Up Fiber can help developers create products with a premium positioning and added value across the Middle East region and the world over.”