Universal strategy for sugar replacement in foods?

In this paper we present a sugar replacements strategy, derived from physical theory, which we think is applicable for a wide range of food categories. The strategy is based on the hypothesis that reformulated foods must mimic the values of two physical characteristic numbers, related to the plasticizing and hygroscopic properties of sugar, to reproduce the texture of a sugar-rich product. We will show the validity of the strategy for reformulated biscuits, using experimental determination of physical properties of dough and baked biscuits, as well as sensorial evaluation by a trained panel. Our investigations shown that the majority of these physical and sensorial attributes correlate with the two physical characteristic numbers. Furthermore, multiple reformulations can be defined which are close to the reference product (in terms of the two physical characteristic numbers), which are indeed scored similar by the trained sensory panel. Hence, our strategy also leaves room for further optimization of the reformulated food towards dietary fiber content, laxative properties or sweetness.