Chapter 15: Food Analogs: Substitute Ingredients

Natural or manufactured substances used in place of traditional food products or ingredients

– save money
– change the nutritive value of food
– improve the performance of foods and compounds
– replace foods that are restricted for health
reasons

– texturized protein made from soybeans that costs less than meat and is lower in fat
– artificial sweeteners that are ideal for people with diabetes

• offer low-fat and reduced-calorie options

• keep prices of food products reasonable

• allow more food options for people with heart disease, food allergies, and diabetes

• viewed as drawbacks to the current food supply by some

• are not “natural”

• may tempt some people to avoid eating a variety of foods

Consumer demand for lower-calorie foods tasting like high-calorie favorites prompted their development

– add sweetness without adding as many
calories as sugar
– are important in many restricted diets

Nonnutritive sweeteners provide no calories but nutritive sweeteners do

Saccharin and Aspartame

Saccharin

– remains stable in a wide range of foods under
extreme processing conditions
– has a bitter aftertaste in high concentrations

2000 times sweeter than sugar

– has not been found to cause cancer in humans after 20 years of research

is a dipeptide made from aspartic acid and the

amino acid phenylalanine

Almost identical taste,

200 times sweeter

Up to 50 mg/kg of body weight per day

drinks, puddings, gelatins, chewing gum, and frozen desserts

Nutritive

Group of low-calorie sweeteners

Sweet alcohols

• Apples, berries, plus

- Helps control moisture content

sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, maltitol, lactitol, erythritol, isolmalt, D-Tagatose, and hydrogenated starch hydrosylates (HSH)

No

Polyols

Polyols

baked goods, ice cream, candy, and chocolates

– improve texture and reduce browning

| – extend the shelf life

Artificial sweeteners are combined with a bulking agent

to enhance the texture or thicken the consistency of food products

Polydextrose is a bulking agent that mimics the mouth feel of sugar and is used in reduced- calorie products

alginates, gum acacia, pectin, and xanthan gum

1) Starch-based fat replacers

| 2) Protein-based fat replacers

release flavor all at once rather than gradually

Sugar, to make up for lack of flavour

vegetable gums, dextrins, maltodextrins,

| polydextrose, and pectin

Advantage: mimic the mouthfeel of fat
Disadvantage: cannot create flaky texture in baked goods

Carrageenan

is a sucrose polyester with 6 to 8 fatty acids attached at the site of hydroxyl groups on a sucrose molecule

can be solid or liquid depending on the fatty acids used

cannot be digested by the body and therefore provides no calories

looks, feels, and performs like fat

• Negated the body's ability to absorb essential vitamins

| - Side effects: cramps, gas, loose bowels

Still legal, despite health implications

Connected to high blood pressure, a risk factor for heart disease

• Potassium chloride

• Sodium-free herbs

• Spices

– may benefit heart patients on low-sodium diets
that need extra potassium
– has a slightly bitter aftertaste

• Soft metal

| - Combines with chlorine to form salts