Programs An All Natural Sweetness Enhancer
Redpoint first announced that it had identified RP44, an all-natural sweetness enhancer, in June 2009. RP44 is Reb-C (rebaudioside C), a component of the stevia plant. In June 2010, Redpoint entered into a license and commercialization agreement with International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc. ("IFF"), covering the commercialization of RP44. RP44 received FEMA GRAS approval in October 2010.
Native to South America, extracts of the leaves of the stevia plant have been used as sweeteners around the world for hundreds of years. More recently, a purified component of stevia known as Reb A has received regulatory approval in the United States and elsewhere and Redpoint believes its popularity as an all-natural non-caloric sweetener is increasing.
Unlike Reb A, RP44 is not a sweetener; rather, it is a sweetness enhancer. A sweetness enhancer imparts no sweet taste of its own when used in a product. Sweetness enhancers act by amplifying the existing sweet taste of caloric sweeteners such as sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Redpoint believes this will enable the development of food and beverage products that require reduced amounts of caloric sweeteners while still retaining the “clean sweet taste” associated with a fully sugared product. The Company has filed patent applications covering the sweetness enhancing effect of RP44.
Taste tests demonstrate that RP44 enables the reduction of up to 25% of the caloric sweetener content in various product prototypes, while still maintaining the taste quality of the fully sweetened product. These enhancement results have been demonstrated by using RP44 in combination with several common sweeteners including sucrose (sugar), fructose and high-fructose corn syrup. The worldwide sweetener market is estimated to be in excess of $50 billion with sugar being the second most common ingredient used in food and beverages after water.
Consumers, and especially parents, who are aware of the potential long range consequences and chronic poor health that often correlates with obesity, are increasingly concerned about what they and their children eat. Many popular foods like fruit juices and other soft drinks, sweet snacks, cereals, sweetened milk products, and other common food items presently contain lots of excess calories in the forms of fructose, sucrose, and high fructose corn syrup. We believe that reduced-calorie all-natural sweetener systems are an important investment in the future health of our children by addressing at least one important aspect of their nutrition - too much sugar in the diet.
Redpoint sees an important potential role for RP44 in all-natural reduced-calorie products. Numerous scientific studies suggest a compelling link between the high levels of refined sugar found in common food and beverage products and the worsening epidemic of obesity and diabetes worldwide. Health and wellness trends continue to be major market drivers for the food and beverage industry, creating consumer demand for natural solutions that can preserve the clean sweet taste of sugar while reducing calories.
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