Will low-calorie sweeteners now look like meringues?
An Israeli company is launching a new ‘3D sweetener’ which can be either added to hot beverages or eaten alongside them as a sweet-treat.
The sweetener called ‘Liteez’, being sold by a company called Lampados International, says the sweetener is similar to a meringue. Unlike a conventional meringue however, it is egg-free, sugar-free and vegan.
Two of the sweeteners equate to two calories. Typically one teaspoon of sugar has 20 calories.
Chief Executive Officer of Lampados International, Noam Kaplan, said the idea behind the sweetener was to make a healthier, tastier and more indulgent sweetener.
“The real challenge was to create a tasty meringue kiss without eggs or sugar – two common indispensable ingredients for making a baked meringue, and that provide its texture, shape and taste,” Kaplan said.
How is the sweetener made?
Liteez consists of a vegetable protein that has the ability to foam like eggs to help create the desired kiss texture and form. Sugar’s functionality is replaced with prebiotic fibers to form a stable foam and maintain the kiss shape, while being highly soluble in hot drinks, such as coffee or tea.
“We hear a lot about sugar tax and sugar reduction. At the end of the day consumers seek healthier sweetening choices, but they don’t want to skip indulgent experiences,” said Kaplan.
Lampados is a family-owned company founded in 1975. It specialises in manufacturing tabletop sweeteners and sugar-free syrups.
Liteez sweeteners were launched in Germany on 29 January 2017. There is no news yet as to whether the sweeteners will be sold in Australia anytime soon.
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