Sweetener Breakups Are Hard: Why the Industry Is Quietly Moving on from Erythritol (and What to Do Instead) Summary Erythritol hasn’t been banned, and it hasn’t stopped functioning. What’s changed is risk. Once a quiet, reliable workhorse in sugar reduction, erythritol now carries perception volatility and trade exposure that smart Read more…
How Icon Foods Steers Brands Through the New Nutrition Frontier At SCIFTS and again at EXPOWest, the food and beverage industry won’t just be trading samples and business cards—they’ll be navigating the tectonic shift that’s reshaping how products get made, labeled, and loved. With the launch of the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the Read more…
Trade Policy Just Changed the Formulation Playbook (Again) Summary In The Erythritol Reckoning, Part II, Thom King moves beyond last week’s science debate and into the economic earthquake now reshaping formulation strategy. With final antidumping and countervailing duties of up to nearly 200% on Chinese erythritol, what was once a dependable, Read more…
Why the New U.S. Dietary Guidelines Will Reshape Better-For-You Food Innovation, and How You Can Lead the Charge Summary The upcoming 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans signal a decisive shift in federal nutrition policy, placing added sugar and highly processed foods squarely in the spotlight. Rather than focusing narrowly on Read more…
Summary RTD coffee has moved beyond convenience and into its second act: function-first formulation. Today’s bottled brews are expected to deliver protein for satiety, fiber for balance, adaptogens for focus, and low sugar without sacrificing drinkability. But coffee is a demanding matrix, acidic, polyphenol-rich, and unforgiving when sweetness or mouthfeel Read more…
Summary Erythritol was once the gold standard for sugar reduction—clean taste, low glycemic impact, functional bulk, and formulation flexibility. But tariffs, anti-dumping rulings, and mounting scientific scrutiny have dramatically altered its risk profile. With prices volatile and new research raising concerns about cardiovascular and metabolic implications The Erythritol Reckoning, better-for-you Read more…
Fillings • Added Sugars • And a New Day for Baked Goods When we talk about sugar reduction in baked goods, most conversations obsess over the dough. The crust. The base. The bread part. Meanwhile, the real sugar bomb is sitting quietly inside, minding its own business, wearing a strawberry Read more…
SteviaSweet™ RA99M v. RA60, RA80, and RA95 Summary SteviaSweet™ RA99M represents a next-generation advance in steviol glycoside sweetening, combining high-purity Rebaudioside A and Rebaudioside M to deliver a cleaner, more sugar-like taste than traditional Reb A grades such as RA60, RA80, and RA95. This white paper compares the four options Read more…
Why Frozen Cottage Cheese is the Next Legit Platform, and How to Formulate it Without Screwing it Up Summary Frozen cottage cheese, or “FroCo*,” is emerging as a serious new platform in frozen desserts, driven by the convergence of protein-forward eating, sugar reduction, GLP-1 behavior shifts, and clean-label expectations. Rather Read more…
— with Botanicals and Adaptogens Summary Functional beverages packed with botanicals and adaptogens present a unique sweetness challenge, especially in low-pH systems where acidity, bitterness, and astringency can distort taste perception. This white paper explores how stevia and monk fruit behave under these demanding conditions and shows why successful formulation Read more…