Nestlé Revolutionizes Sugar Reduction Technology, Enhances Health Benefits

Nestlé has pioneered a ground-breaking enzymatic process capable of reducing sugar content in various food ingredients by up to 30% without compromising taste, texture, or cost. The transformative technology also bolsters prebiotic fibers, improving gut health, and can be widely applied across product categories.

Several years ago, Nestlé successfully targeted the confectionery sector with a similar development, resulting in the short-lived Wowsome confectionery line in the UK, which was anticipated to be a significant breakthrough.

Nestlé's latest initiative now utilizes an enzymatic process to reduce intrinsic sugar in ingredients like malt, milk, and fruit juices by up to 30%. Remarkably, this reduction has a minimal impact on taste and texture. The sugar-reduced ingredients are then incorporated into recipes for a wide range of products, eliminating the need to add sweeteners or bulking agents to maintain volume.

Another benefit of this patented sugar reduction method is its impact on milk-based products. It also increases prebiotic fibers that support the growth of multiple types of beneficial bacteria in healthy adults, improving the microbiome's composition.

Stefan Palzer, Nestlé Chief Technology Officer, describes this new technology as a game-changer. Not only does it enable sugar reduction without compromising taste, but it also does so without the need for additional sweeteners, all at a minimal cost increase. Furthermore, the production of prebiotic fibers is an added advantage.

The success of this sugar reduction technology has been demonstrated in Southeast Asia with cocoa and malt-based ready-to-drink beverages. Over the past year, Nestlé has introduced it to the production lines for cocoa and malt-based powdered beverages, like Milo, across several countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. More than 200,000 tons of cocoa and malt-based beverages have undergone this sugar reduction process since 2021. The implementation of the technology continues, with plans to extend it to other product categories, such as dairy powders.

This innovation is valuable to Nestlé's existing range of solutions, developed in collaboration with external innovation partners and suppliers over the years. This diverse portfolio includes natural sweeteners, flavors that enhance sweetness or mask bitterness, and natural bulking agents like fibers, cereals, and tailor-made dairy and cocoa powders.

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