Novel sweeteners are a relatively new class of non-caloric sweeteners that have a natural origin but offer similar advantages as traditional and artificial sugar substitutes. Often known as the diabetic capital of the world, the rising rates of diabetes, obesity, and other metabolic disorders in India signal an urgent need to rethink how sweetness is delivered in food and beverage products. While on one side, there are healthy, low sugar or no sugar product launches and availability observed in sweet products in the bakery, confectionery, dairy and dairy alternatives, dessert, beverage, tabletop sweeteners, and functional food sectors broadly, on the other side, there is still high consumption of foods rich in fat, sugar and salt, especially among children and adolescents which is contributing to the triple burden of malnutrition.
Sucrose and traditional artificial sweeteners have dominated the market so far. Yet, a new generation of novel sweeteners derived from natural sources and advanced fermentation processes is gaining global attention with the search for seemingly healthier sugar alternatives. Novel sweeteners such as allulose, tagatose, monk fruit extract, and sweet proteins like thaumatin and brazzein are not only lower in calories and do not cause blood sugar rise or weight gain, but also align with evolving consumer demands for clean-label, functional, and health-forward products.
Novel Sweeteners: Definition and Types
Non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) used as food additives are classified as caloric (nutritive) sweeteners and non-caloric (non-nutritive) sweeteners in the country. Caloric sweeteners have more than 2% of sucrose’s calorific value per equivalent unit of sweetening capacity. These include sorbitol, maltitol, mannitol, isomalt, lactitol, polyglycitol syrup, and xylitol. Whereas non-caloric sweeteners are those that have less than 2% of sucrose’s calorific value per equivalent unit of sweetening capacity and include aspartame, neotame, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, saccharins, aspartame-acesulfame potassium salt, stevia (steviol glycoside), erythritol, and thaumatin.
Novel sweeteners are a relatively new class of non-caloric sweeteners that have a natural origin but offer similar advantages as traditional and artificial sugar substitutes. They are plant or dairy-derived and generally less processed than the artificial non-caloric sweeteners. The term “novel” distinguishes this category from the more established ones, such as natural and artificial sweetening options. In comparison, traditional artificial sweeteners are chemically synthesised and more intensely sweet. But both novel and conventional non-caloric sweeteners contribute to low or zero calories.
Allulose
Allulose is naturally found in small amounts in raisins and figs. It is a rare sugar – a low-calorie monosaccharide with a calorific value of 0.2 – 0.4 kcal/g and 70% sweetness intensity as sucrose. However, commercially, it is produced from fructose through enzymatic conversion or microbial fermentation from corn or sugarcane sources, but mainly. Due to its structural resemblance to fructose (allulose is a C3 epimer of fructose), it exhibits similar properties upon use. Available in liquid and crystalline/powder forms, it could be a potential replacer for erythritol.
Tagatose
Tagatose is a rare sugar that occurs in tiny quantities in sterilised dairy products, whole wheat, white beans, and fruits such as apples, pineapples, oranges, and raisins. Its structural formula is identical to fructose, with sweetness being 90% that of sucrose. Commercial production of tagatose mostly starts with the enzymatic hydrolysis of D-lactose to D-galactose. However, the production cost of the dairy (lactose) route tagatose was very high, resulting in high prices. So, food ingredient producers attempted to produce tagatose from other sources, and Bonumose identified a method to produce tagatose using maltodextrin/starch as a feedstock material. Tagatose is approved for use in all food categories except infant formulas and meat/poultry products. Nonetheless, the energy conversion factor of D-tagatose for labelling purposes is uncertain – for example, the US FDA uses an energy conversion factor of 1.5 kcal/g, whereas EFSA uses 3 kcal/g for this ingredient. It is primarily a nutritive, bulk sweetener but can also be used as a flavour enhancer, humectant, texturiser, and stabiliser in food and beverage applications. In 2024, tagatose received the independent Nutrastrong Prebiotic Verified certification, becoming the first sweetener to attain this verification.
Allose
A rare sugar naturally occurring in the leaves of the African Protea rubropilosa shrub, allose is a C3 epimer of glucose. It exhibits 80% of sucrose’s sweetness intensity and is a low-calorie sweetener. Nevertheless, there is limited availability of this sweetener in natural sources, along with the high production costs. Also, due to the issues associated with chemical synthesis, such as complex purification steps, low output, pollution from chemical waste, and non-reusability of substrates, it is necessary to explore biosynthetic production of allose using an enzymatic pathway according to recent research studies. Though allose holds some potential for pharmaceutical applications, it is not yet commercially available as a product in the market and seems to be underexplored for use in the food industry as of now.
Monk Fruit Sweetener
This is a zero-calorie sweetener and is typically 100-300 times sweeter than regular sugar. This sweetener is commercially produced by extracting the sweet compounds called mogrosides (specifically mogroside V) from monk fruit, also known as swingle fruit, lo han guo or Siraitia grosvenorii, which is a small, round-shaped fruit native to South China. Sold as liquid/powder, the extract is often blended with other sweeteners such as erythritol to adjust the taste and appearance of monk fruit sweetener, similar to white sugar. Compared with stevia and artificial sweeteners, this sugar alternative does not have a bitter aftertaste.
Protein Sweeteners
This group comprises sweet proteins extracted from plants grown in the tropical regions of Africa and Asia, such as thaumatin and brazzein, and lesser-known ones like monellin, curculin, neoculin, mabinlin, miraculin and pentadin. For example, thaumatin is derived from the katemfe fruit of the Thaumatococcus daniellii plant (Benth), monellin from the Dioscoreophyllum cumminsii shrub (serendipity berry), miraculin from the miracle fruit plant and brazzein from the oubli fruit.
Traditionally, they have been used to alter flavour by suppressing or masking the original taste of foods and beverages, but in recent times, their usage has diversified to flavour enhancement and sweetening. These sweet proteins are metabolised like proteins and provide 4kcal/g, but due to their small dosage levels as a result of the high sweetness potency compared to table sugar, the calorific value is neglected. While thaumatin is 1600-2000 times sweeter than sucrose, brazzein is 500-2000 times sweeter. Thaumatin consists of either Thaumatin I or Thaumatin II, or a mixture of both.
Companies have started producing sweet proteins such as thaumatin, brazzein, monellin and miraculin by precision fermentation using yeast.
Novel Sweeteners: Regulatory Landscape and Market Overview
To promote transparency in food product labelling, increased consumer awareness, and healthy eating choices mainly, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has introduced new changes to the packaged food labelling regulations in 2024 which includes the mandatory display of the total salt, sugar and fat content on the front-of-pack labels in bold as well as the mandatory display of the amount of calories, carbohydrates, and added sugars in the products along with other nutritional values. This will come into effect in 2025 and is expected to boost sugar reduction and the use of sugar replacers in the country. Similarly, another rule that was implemented in 2024 was that for fruit juice products reconstituted from concentrates, the term sweetened juice has to be used if there is an addition of nutritive sweeteners more than 15g/kg.
Stevia was approved for use in India in 2015 itself and hence, is not considered a novel sweetener in the current scope. Allose is not approved in any country yet. Monk fruit, tagatose, thaumatin and allulose have been approved for use in India.
The approval for the sale of monk fruit juice or juice concentrate was granted to Gujarat Enterprise in February 2019. Although honeytose (a form of allulose) sale was approved for Petiva under sweeteners as part of refined and raw sugars in January 2020 and for Fertis India in April 2023, rights for sale of allulose in pure crystal powder or syrup form in the subcontinent was granted only in October 2024 to 1-2-TasteIndia and K.P. Manish Global Ingredients obtained the right to sell Nexweet crystalline allulose in December 2024.
Novel Sweeteners: FSSAI Regulations
According to the FSSAI regulations pertaining to these sweeteners,
- Monk fruit juice concentrate in liquid form is covered as a thermally processed fruit juice pulp concentrate or puree as part of non-alcoholic soft beverages, but is not classified as a sweetener or flavour
- Thaumatin has an INS number 957 and is classified as a sweetener, flavour enhancer and emulsifier
- Tagatose does not have any specific regulations as of now
Tagatose is imported to India mainly from China and the USA. A.B. Enterprises is a distributor of tagatose products in the country.
Key suppliers of thaumatin in India include 1-2-TasteIndia (thaumatin imported from UAE), Surasa, Avanschem, AM Nutratech, A.B. Enterprises and Avanscure Lifesciences.
Some of the prominent monk fruit sweetener suppliers in the country include Lakanto (Saraya) India, Alspure, Avanschem, 1-2-TasteIndia, Monknectar, Novasol Ingredients, and Ayushagro Food.
Conclusion
The main criteria looked into while selecting a suitable novel substitute for table sugar are its naturalness, glycaemic index, calorie count, nutritional benefits, easy production process, high yield, cost, safety, allergenicity/toxicity, appearance, sweetness intensity similar to sucrose and other technochemical properties. If these are found to be satisfactory, then the sweetener will have demand. As India works to balance public health goals with economic growth in its food sector, novel sweeteners offer a solution. However, unlocking their full potential will require regulatory clarity, investment in local production technologies, and a collaborative push from industry and academia. For Indian startups and established food and beverage industry players alike, the sweetener landscape is no longer just about sugar, sugar alcohols, artificial sweeteners, stevia or other natural sweeteners – it is about who transitions quickly and smartly into the new era of functional, science-backed sweetness.