Fructose as Sweetener in Soft Drinks

The term ‘bulk sweeteners’ is used for sugars who normal usage level in beverages places them as the second ingredient, behind carbonated water as the product declaration.

Today the list of commercial food products sweetened entirely with fructose or with a fructose and glucose mixture is long and varied and this includes soft drinks.

Most fructose used to sweetened commercial products is obtained from corn, not squeezed from fruit a process that is impractical for mass production.

Increasing the fructose content reduces viscosity; the level of sweetness increases. High levels of fructose limit the crystallization risk of the syrups, because fructose crystallizes only with difficulty.

Fructose syrups prevent the cap locking of food and pharmaceutical syrups in bottles.

The sweetener in commercial products is usually not fructose alone but a combination of fructose, glucose and other sugar.

In the mid 1980s, 55% high fructose corn syrup was adopted by the carbonated beverage industry and became prominent sweetener in soft drink. It was developed thirty years ago as a cheap alternative to sucrose, or table sugar.

The sweet taste in many soft drinks comes from a mixture of 55% fructose and 43% glucose.

Its cheap to make, tastes sweeter than sugar so manufacturer can use less of it.
Fructose as Sweetener in Soft Drinks