California Dried Plum Board
Technical Bulletin
June, 2006

Take A Bite of the 100-Calorie
Snack Market with California Dried Plums
BackgroundLess than two-years old, the 100 calorie snack market is already 44 products (2005)(Datamonitor) and $115 million in retail sales (IRI excluding Wal-Mart)--up 82.3% over 2004.
Control is a key motivation for consumers to purchase the category based on the pre-measured
portion size. The idea appeals to consumers who care about portion control but don't want tocount calories. With an open full-size package of snacks it is easy to eat much more than 100calories. The 100-calorie puts a limit on consumption and makes calorie counting extremely
easy.
Most important for consumers managing their weight, the 100-calorie value puts an easy-tocalculate number on food intake much like the adoption of the glycemic index by some foodprocessors and consumers.
A weakness of many of these products, however, is that extreme processing and a focus on baked
snacks and cookies raises consumer doubts about nutritional value. Many of the calories are
empty of nutrition leaving some consumers wanting something more healthy while achieving
greater satiety.
Dried Plums--Natural Approach to Calorie Reduction
California dried plums are a natural ingredient for food processors to participate in the 100calorie snack category. The d'Agen plum is the source of dried plums' unique array of naturally
occurring features. The d'Agen variety is one of just a few that is allowed to fully ripen on thetree without fermenting before harvesting. Seldom has a single ingredient offered such amultiplicity of benefits.
Dried Plums' Weight Control Product Ingredient Benefits
FiberSorbitol
Malic acidFat free
Cholesterol free
Unique sugars
Low glycemic index

7% fiber, half of which is soluble.
15% sorbitol, more than any other food
1.5-2.0% malic acid to potentiate flavors
Thus, no saturated fat and no trans fat
No cholesterol
No sucrose
GI of 29 +/-4, GL of 7

Mathematics of Calorie Reduction
Food processors believe 81% of consumers are looking for reduced-fat food formulations to help
solve a weight problem. Some 70% of consumers will turn to low-calorie formulations and 62%
to reduced-sugar. As for beneficial ingredients, 74% of food processors reported dietary fiber asa key for weight-control products (Prepared Foods 2006 R&D Trends Survey: Weight ControlFormulations).
Dried plums contain 2.57 calories per gram. Shortening, on-the-other-hand, contains 8.84
calories per gram. Replacing all or a portion of the shortening in a bakery formula not only
reduces the fat content of finished baked goods but also the calories. Also, dried plums add
sweetness without the extra calories found in sugar.
For example, if 100% of the shortening is replaced with dried plum puree, the calories arereduced 85%. If 50% of the shortening is replaced with dried plum puree, the calories arereduced by 43%. This calorie replacement is possible due to dried plums' high fruit sugar
content. In general, the d'Agen plum contains twice as much total sugar at harvest as othervarieties of plums.
Carbohydrate Control
Dried plums contain about 62.7% carbohydrates per 100 grams. Thus, when designing 100calorie snacks dried plums become a natural consideration. The sugars in dried plums do notelevate blood sugar levels very rapidly and their glycemic response or index (GI) is in the lowrange, i.e. GI=29 +/-4, while the glycemic load (GL) is 7 for a 30 g portion.
The reasons for this low glycemic index are due to the variation in sugar profiles and fiber
content of dried plums. Dried plums contain, on the average, 25 g of glucose, 12 g of fructose
and 15 g of sorbitol as well as 6-7.5 g of fiber per 100 g.
When compared with the fresh d'Agen plum, the concentration of sugar increases in dried plums,
because of dehydration, but there are also qualitative changes in the proportion of individualsugars. The most striking change is the nearly total disappearance of sucrose, which ishydrolyzed to glucose and fructose during processing.
100-Calorie Plum Brownie Bars
A brownie bar is a 100-calorie snack with universal appeal. Commercial and retail bakers caneasily make this popular bakery snack using dried plum powder. Dried plum powder is 100%
dried plums dried down to about 5% moisture. Dried Plum powder is incorporated into bakery
mixes along with other dry ingredients to yield a reduced calorie serving that is also reduced infat. In fact, each 100-calorie brownie bar contains only 3g of fat, 0.5g of saturated fat and nottrans fat.

100 Calorie Plum Brownie Bar Formula
INGREDIENTS
Powdered sugar
Bleached flour
Water
Vegetable oil
Dutched cocoa
Dried plum powder
All-purpose shortening
Egg white powder
SaltVanilla
Sodium bicarbonate
TOTAL* Based on batch weightPER CENT (%)*
36.0
20.6
22.3
6.4
5.3
4.5
3.2
1.1
0.20
0.20
0.20
100.00

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 176C (350F)
2. Place dry ingredients in medium bowl. Add shortening, oil and vanilla and stir with paddle
on low speed for 1 minute or until evenly distributed
3. Add water and blend approximately 50 strokes by hand, or until mixture is well blended
4. Spread evenly in a 9" X 13" baking pan, greased on the bottom only.
5. Bake for 27 minutes at 176C (350F)
Nutritional Facts
Serving size
Calories
Calories From Fat
Total Fat
Saturated Fat
Trans Fat
Cholesterol
SodiumTotal Carbohydrate
Dietary Fiber
SugarsProtein30g
10030% Daily Value
3g
5%0.5g
3%0g
0%0mg
0%
40mg
2%
18g
6%
1g
4%
11g
1g

Source: California Dried Plum Board
For additional information contact:
California Dried Plum Board
1-800-729-5992
www.CaliforniaDriedPlums.org