Ten years ago it appeared that biotechnology would have significant socio-economic implications in the sweetener sector. Robin Jenkins examines the reasons why sugar remains king in the sweetener sector and offers some insights into what the future holds for sweeteners, given the highly protected nature of the sugar market.
Sweetness is one of the primary senses of our taste buds.
It is produced mainly by sucrose, which occurs naturally as a minor constituent of most fruits and vegetables. Refined sucrose, which produces the isolated sensation of pure sweetness, was introduced into the human food system mainly as a luxury item some 500 years ago, and it has only become a major source of energy in the human diet over the past 100 years. Global production has doubled in the last 50 years and is rising steadily, particularly in the South. World consumption of sucrose now amounts to an average of 21 kilos per person per year, and is rising steadily. Sugar cane was originally the only source of refined sugar so the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world where it grows once held a monopoly of supplies.