Israeli sugar-reduction startup inks sweet deal with top European producer
DouxMatok expects to have commercial quantities of product, which delivers sweetness directly to taste buds without affecting flavor, by 2019
An Israeli company that says it is able to reduce the quantity of sugar in foods without affecting the taste announced on Monday that it had teamed up with Europe’s leading sugar company to give consumers access to the groundbreaking product.
DouxMatok, a Petah Tikva-based business, claims it can reduce sugar content by up 40 percent with no discernible loss of flavor. It does this by ensuring that more of the sugar hits the taste buds where the flavor can be enjoyed.
The Israeli company signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany’s Südzucker to commercialize the product. The companies expect to be able to produce commercial quantities of the product by the second half of 2019.
Taking its cue from the ways in which medication is delivered to the right part of the body, DouxMatok engineers sugar grains so that most of the flavor reaches the taste buds, where the sweetness is enjoyed, in contrast to normal sugar, where 80% of the sugar goes directly into the stomach.
The DouxMatok technology coats sugar molecules onto a tasteless mineral which the company says ensures more of the sugar lands on the taste buds.
According to DouxMatok, consumers cannot tell the difference between the modified sugar and the real thing, saying this has been “tested independently and validated by third party panels as well as major food companies.”
Reducing sugar in foods is a goal in the Western world where obesity rates continue to rise significantly.
“Our vision at DouxMatok is to pioneer targeted delivery of flavor and food ingredients, such as sugars, enabling consumers to enjoy the exact same tastes they know and love, with a better and healthier nutritional profile,” said Eran Baniel, CEO and Co-Founder of DouxMatok. “We feel fortunate to have Südzucker as our European partner in launching our first products and bringing together our vision to life.”
Randolf Burisch, commercial head of Südzucker´s sugar business unit, said the technology would provide novel ways of reducing the sugar content of food and developing new products.
