Sweeteners

Pure corn starch is by far the biggest source of the other carbohydrate sweeteners used by today’s food manufacturers. Wheat, potato and tapioca starch are used to a lesser extent. Corn starch is split into a variety of smaller fragments (called dextrins) with acid or enzymes. The smaller fragments are then converted into the various cornstarch sweeteners used by today’s food manufacturers. Hydrolysis is the term used to describe the overall process where starch is converted into various sweeteners. Sweetener products made by starch hydrolysis include dextrose, glucose (or corn) syrup, corn syrup solids, maltodextrin, isoglucose (or high fructose corn) syrup, and crystalline fructose.

A newer class of alternative carbohydrate sweeteners is the sugar alcohols. While sugar alcohols are neither sugars nor alcohols, they are so-named because they are manufactured from traditional carbohydrates. Sugar alcohols bear a close resemblance to the sugars from which their names are derived: sorbitol is derived from glucose, mannitol from fructose, maltitol from maltose, etc

"A rose by any other name," dextrose and glucose are the same sugar. Dextrose is the commercial name used for the crystalline glucose produced from starch. If the crystallized dextrose (glucose) contains no water, it is listed as dextrose anhydrous or anhydrous dextrose in an ingredient statement. If the crystallized dextrose contains one molecule of water, it will be listed as dextrose or dextrose monohydrate in an ingredient statement. The majority of the dextrose listed in food ingredient statements began as cornstarch.
Food manufacturers may list dextrose produced from cornstarch as corn sugar in an ingredient statement. If the dextrose comes from another source like rice or wheat, the ingredient list would read rice sugar or wheat sugar, respectively.
Dextrose is used in many baking products like cake mixes and frostings, snack foods like cookies, crackers and pretzels, and desserts like custards and sherbets.

Manufacturers produce glucose syrups by treating starch, mainly corn starch, with acids or enzymes. Standard glucose syrups, used by the food industry as well as the consumer, contain dextrose and other saccharides. In the United States, glucose syrup is made solely from corn starch and is called corn syrup. The singular term corn syrup is somewhat of a misnomer because it is used to identify a group of sweeteners that differ from one another simply by the amount of dextrose (glucose) present in the commercial syrup. Since only a single type of syrup is generally used in a food product, the term glucose (or corn) syrup is permitted in an ingredient statement. However, consumers have no idea how much glucose is contained in the particular glucose syrup listed in an ingredient statement. A commercial glucose syrup may contain between 20% and 98% dextrose (glucose). Glucose (corn) syrups are used today in many salad dressings, tomato sauces, powdered drink mixes, fruit drinks and juices, and frozen desserts like pudding and ice milk.

When a corn syrup has been concentrated to contain less than 10% water, it can be listed as corn syrup solids in an ingredient statement. To qualify as corn syrup solids, the glucose (dextrose) content must be at least 88% of the weight of the concentrated syrup. This product can be called dried glucose syrup or glucose syrup solids in an ingredient list. Corn syrup solids are used in the same types of foods as dextrose and corn syrups.

A maltodextrin is a short chain of molecularly linked dextrose (glucose) molecules, and is manufactured by regulating the hydrolysis of starch. Typical commercial maltodextrins contain as few as three and as many as nineteen linked dextrose units. While the singular term maltodextrin is permitted in an ingredient statement, the term maltodextrin can be applied to any starch hydrolysis product that contains fewer than 20 dextrose (glucose) units linked together. This means that the term maltodextrin represents a family of products, not a single distinct ingredient.
Additionally, today’s commercially important maltodextrin products are produced from corn, potato or rice. Unlike the other starch sweeteners, the undefined term maltodextrin can be used in an ingredient list irregardless of the original source of the starch. Maltodextrins are used in a wide array of foods, from canned fruits to snacks. Maltodextrins may also be an ingredient in the single-serve, table-top packet of some artificial sweeteners.

Sugar, like other sweeteners, is a carbohydrate, an important nutrient supplying energy to the body. All carbohydrate sweeteners (sugar, honey, high fructose corn syrup, fructose, glucose, maple syrup, juice concentrates) contain primarily sugars and do not provide significant amounts of vitamins and minerals. Molasses contains small amounts of iron and calcium. We value sugar and other natural sweeteners because they enhance the taste and enjoyment of a wide variety of nutritious foods. All of the above sweeteners contain 4 Kcal/gram.

We prize sugar for its sweet taste, but it has many other functions in cooking and baking. Sugar contributes texture and browning to baked goods. Yeast needs sugar to regulate the fermentation process that causes bread to rise. Sugar adds mouth-pleasing bulk to ice cream and baked goods, preserves jams and fruits, and imparts a satisfying body or "mouth feel" to beverages. In non-sweet foods -- salad dressings, sauces, condiments -- sugar enhances flavor and balances the natural acidity of tomato and vinegar-based products.