Sugar-reduction technology for fruit ice creams and sorbets

Founded in 2018, Better Juice developed a patented enzymatic technology to help beverage manufacturers produce lower-sugar fruit juice. The solution has now been expanded for use in fruit ice cream and sorbet applications.

While sorbets are often viewed as an innocent fruity delight, the downside is the product's naturally high sugar content. Typical ingredient lists often include around 50% puréed fruit, added sugars or alternative sweeteners and water.

“Even products claiming zero added sugar still house approximately 6 to 10% sugar from the fruit juice concentrates alone,” said Gali Yarom, co-founder and CEO of Better Juice.

To create sugar-reduced sorbets, Better Juice has adapted its technology to process fruit concentrates and purées, the core ingredient of sorbets. The start-up has produced sorbets in a range of flavours, including apple, orange and strawberry, claiming reductions of sugar content by 50 to 70% and calories by 40%.

The enzymatic technology is based on non-GMO microorganisms and is designed to naturally transform fruit juice’s composition of sucrose, glucose and fructose into prebiotic oligosaccharides and other non-digestible fibres, without any impact on their natural complex of vitamins, fibre and nutrients. The fruit juices are treated in continuous-flow columns that contain immobilised sugar-reducing beads.

The Better Juice team.

“We succeeded in creating delicious sorbets with as little as 2% sugar,” Yarom said.

The technology is available for ice cream chains and CPG ice cream and sorbet manufacturers via small, easy-to-use plug-in units that contain the patented immobilised enzymes.

The company said manufacturers will be able to reduce the sugar content of their products, including ice creams with fruit, at desired levels of up to 80%.

Ice cream makers could alternatively have the option of sourcing reduced sugar concentrates from other juice manufacturers in the US holding agreements with the company to install the sugar-reduction device in their facilities.

Last January, Better Juice announced its collaboration with Ingredion Incorporated to help fast-track its sugar-reduction solution into the US juice market.

Better Juice recently obtained self-affirmed GRAS status from the US-FDA, allowing it to sell its products in the US. The company will initially commercialise its solution for sorbet and ice cream in the US but also plans to extend its services to Europe and other regions.

The reduced-sugar sorbet will be put to the taste test at the upcoming IFT Expo in Chicago from 15–17 July.

Top image credit: iStock.com/Nikolay_Donetsk