Does Allulose Appeal to Consumers? Results from a Discrete Choice Experiment in Germany

Abstract

Reducing the sugar content in food is an important goal in many countries in order to counteract obesity and unhealthy eating. Currently, many consumers eat a number of foods with too much sugar content. However, mankind has an innate preference for sweet foods, and thus one strategy is to have food products which taste sweet but consist of a reduced calorie and sugar content. Allulose is a rare monosaccharide and is considered a safe ingredient in foods, for example in the US, Japan, Singapore, and Mexico, while in Europe, it is in the approval process as a novel food. Thus, it is relevant to find out how consumers perceive the different attributes of allulose in comparison to other sweeteners. Therefore, an online survey consisting of a choice experiment was conducted in Germany to find out consumer preferences of sweeteners. The survey data were analyzed using a mixed logit model. The results reveal that taste is the most important attribute for sweeteners, which explains about 40% of the choice. In the attribute level, a typical sugar taste is preferred. As allulose has a typical sugar taste, the likelihood that it appeals to consumers is high. The second most important attribute is the base product.

A Pilot Study on the Efficacy of a Diabetic Diet Containing the Rare Sugar D-Allulose in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Prospective, Randomized, Single-Blind, Crossover Study

“…Various studies on what consumers want from sweeteners have also been conducted. Jürkenbeck et al analyzed which characteristics of sweeteners are important to consumers for four sweeteners (D-allulose, stevia, xylitol, and erythritol), including D-allulose [ 28 ]. According to them, the most important factor for consumers when purchasing sweeteners was ‘taste’.…”

Application of Emerging Techniques in Reduction of the Sugar Content of Fruit Juice: Current Challenges and Future Perspectives

“…Therefore, D-allulose can be used as a sweetener in controlling a body weight diet. It is recommended for people with diabetes since it does not affect insulin [ 110 ] and does not significantly attenuate the increase of glucose levels in the blood [ 111 ] (which allows for glycemic control). Moreover, it is tooth-friendly, in contrast to sugar.…”

“…Moreover, it is tooth-friendly, in contrast to sugar. The taste of D-allulose is similar to sugar, contrary to many other sugar substitutes, so consumers perceive it positively [ 110 ]. In the US, allulose has been approved as safe by the Food and Drug Administration since 2012 (GRN No.…”

“…It can be used as a sugar substitute in a variety of food categories, for example, non-carbonated beverages (max concentration—3.5%) [ 112 ]. It is still under consideration in Europe before the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) approval because it has been classified as previously unavailable in food [ 110 ]. However, despite the existence of beneficial aspects of the use of allulose, in vitro studies have shown that bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumonia (an opportunistic human pathogen) can utilize allulose as a substrate.…”