Experts at the Food Innovation Centre at the University of Nottingham have turned the spotlight on sugar reduction in their latest factsheet for the food and drink industry.
The publication of the factsheet comes just as a new report into the food we eat - led by Henry Dimbleby as part of his National Food Strategy – calls for a range of measures to reduce sugar and salt in food and drink, including taxing the food and drink sector.
One of a series of factsheets compiled by the Food Innovation Centre to provide clear, concise and scientifically reliable information on key topics for small and medium-sized food and drink producers, the sugar reduction factsheet outlines why sugar should be cut, which sugars should be limited, how they can be replaced and describes how businesses can go about reducing sugar in their products.
It has been written and compiled by Dr Wentao Liu, a research fellow at the Food Innovation Centre, who said: “Sugar reduction in food and drink is a hugely topical subject, which has been brought to the fore again by the National Food Strategy in its latest report, which has just been released.
“Our factsheet aims to help small and medium-sized food and drink producers work towards cutting the sugar levels in their products – creating healthier options that will appeal to their customers.”
The Food Innovation Centre, based at the Bioenergy and Brewing Science building at the University of Nottingham’s Sutton Bonington campus, offers free support to eligible small and medium-sized food and drink manufacturers in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire under the Driving Research and Innovation project - a three-year project that runs until the end of December 2022. Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) via the D2N2 LEP, the project is run by the Food Innovation Centre at the University of Nottingham School of Biosciences, in conjunction with the Chemistry Innovation Laboratory in the School of Chemistry and Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and in association with the Midlands Engine. It is a unique collaboration project that provides free specialist innovation support to small and medium-sized businesses.
Richard Worrall, who runs the Food Innovation Centre, said: “Our experts have worked to support a number of food and drink businesses with reformulation to help reduce sugar in their products. It is very timely that our latest factsheet should be published just as the national spotlight is being shone on this very important topic which could have significant implications for the food and drink sector.”
For more information about the Food Innovation Centre, to access the Sugar Reduction factsheet, or to get in touch with experts who can help with the issue, visit https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/biosciences/facilities/food-innovation-centre.aspx or view the factsheet directly https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/biosciences/documents/fic/healthy-eating-fact-sheet-4-sugar-reduction-pptx.pdf