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Sugar-free boiled sweets and a similar sugar-based product were produced on a laboratory-scale and compared using sensory and consumer panels. A combination of a maltitol-based bulk sweetener with an intense sweetener (saccharin) was used as a replacement for the sucrose and glucose syrup components in a conventional formulation. Results indicate that the production of such products required little variation of conventional processing procedures. Differences in sensory characteristics and consumer preference between the two types of boiled sweets were not generally statistically significant. Results suggest that it is possible to produce a sugar-fre boiled sweet with comparable sensory qualities and consumer acceptance to conventional, sugar-based confectionery, if so desired.
Introduction
Increased consumer awareness of the impact of diet on health has stimulated the market for 'healthier' foods which have a lower sugar, fat or total energy content (Lotz & Bagley, 1991), and has led to a general increase in the demand for sugar-free alternatives to sugar-based products (Heasman, 1990). In parallel, there is concern about the level of sugar consumption in the UK and the impact which sugar has on dental health, especially where sugar is eaten between meals as snacks or sweets, and this concern is being increasingly recognised by consumers (Gonze & Van de Schueren, 1993). Although total UK sugar consumption has decreased, the consumption of sugar-rich snacks and soft drinks is still increasing (Mintel Market Intelligence, 1993) as snack foods, and especially confectionery, become increasingly a part of the everyday diet of many consumers. With consumers in search of healthier choices, there should, intheory, be a considerable market for sugar-free confectionery (Mintel Market Intelligence, 1993). Although sugar-free confectionery has been around for some time, until recently it has been largely confined to chewing gum (Hilliam, 1995). Much of the sugar-free chewing gum available worldwide is produced in Scandinavian countries, but recent reports suggest that sugar-free chewing gum now accounts for around 50% of chewing gum sales in the UK (Hilliam, 1995), providing further evidence that a market for sugar-free confectionery exists if the products are close enough in taste and quality to the conventional sugar-based products.
The wider market for sugar-free confectionery in the UK may not have developed because early products were developed for people with diabetes, rather than for the...