Ingredion’s manufacturing plant in Mexico has entered operation. Located in San Juan del Río, two-hours drive north Mexico City, the plant is the company’s first in Latin America.
At this location, the company will manufacture the sweetener ASTRAEA Allulose, which will be marketed and sold across the Americas by Ingredion.
For Ingredion, the ASTRAEA Allulose will enable food and beverage manufacturers across the Americas to reduce calories from sucrose and other caloric sweeteners in a wide range of products, including beverages, dairy, bakery and confectionery items.
Jim Zallie, Ingredion’s president and CEO, commented: “We are advancing our specialities strategy with the unique value proposition offered by allulose for sugar reduction by aligning with one of the most important food and beverage trends shaping our industry and impacting our customers.”
Ingredion’s partner Matsutani will market and sell ASTRAEA Allulose across most of Asia.
“We look forward to working with Matsutani and bringing further innovation to the marketplace that meets the evolving needs of today’s global consumers,” he added.
Calorie-free sweetener
ASTRAEA Allulose is a sweetener that tastes and functions like sucrose and is in the family of rare sugars. Allulose is absorbed by the body, but not metabolised, making it nearly calorie-free.
Allulose is one of the many types of monosaccharides that exist in nature in small quantities and can be found in certain fruits, including figs, raisins and jackfruit.
These properties make allulose an ideal ingredient for formulators as they look for ways to reduce calories from sucrose in the products they develop
Allulose has a texture and performance behaviour similar to sucrose providing comparable bulk, sweetness and functionality (e.g., browning, freeze point depression).
"These properties make allulose an ideal ingredient for formulators as they look for ways to reduce calories from sucrose in the products they develop," the company explained.
ASTRAEA Allulose has been approved by COFEPRIS as a non-caloric sweetener that can be used in different food and beverage segments, and it’s exempted from being included in the nutrition facts.
It’s 70% as sweet as sugar; it helps producers reduce sucrose in their recipes and develop calorie-reduced foods and beverages to meet the growing consumer demand.
According to Ingredion’s Consumer Market Research conducted in 2016, 74% of Mexicans believe it’s important to reduce their sugar consumption to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
The new production plant was inaugurated last November in the presence of the governor of Querétaro, Francisco Domínguez Servién, who thanked the trust of both companies for investing in a project in a state with one of the most dynamic economies in Mexico.
During the construction phase, the allulose plant created nearly 600 direct and indirect jobs.
