Trehalose Approved in Canada

NEW YORK - Jul 19/05 - SNS -- Canada has approved trehalose for use as a nutritive sweetener in human food applications.

The starch-based sweetener is marketed by Cargill under the Ascend brand name, which has exclusive rights to distribute trehalose in Europe, North, South and Central America.

Trehalose is a white, odorless, sweet-tasting powder. It is a disaccharide, two simple sugars in one molecule. Like maltose, the two sugars are both glucose and it is rated 45% as sweet as sugar.

In trehalose, one glucose molecule is upside-down relative to the other. In maltose, the two glucose molecules are in the same orientation. This small difference reflects in the properties of trehalose. It does not brown when heated, it does not promote bacterial growth or tooth decay as much as maltose or sugar, and it is less attractive to moisture.

The compound occurs naturally in mushrooms, honey, lobster, shrimp and foods produced using baker's and brewer's yeast, including beer and breads.

The product marketed by Cargill is "produced using the Hayashibara patented enzyme conversion and crystallization process resulting in a white crystalline powder (trehalose dihydrate) with a very high organic and mineral purity and a mild, clean sweet taste," Cargill Health & Food Technologies division explains.