Samyang Specialty

~Samyang Corporation’s allulose has established a stepping stone to advance globally with GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Allulose is referred to as the optimal next-generation sweetener as it produces a sweet taste comparable to sugar using common figs and grapes while its calories amount to almost ‘zero.’ Although it is a rare type of sugar existing in extremely small quantities in nature, it can be mass-produced with enzyme technology.

Allulose developed originally by Samyang Corporation, a food and chemical affiliate in the Samyang Group, obtained GRAS from the FDA. Among the 5 companies around the world that produce allulose, Samyang Corporation is the only one that uses enzymes found in microorganisms separated from food to produce allulose and has sold it under the brand TRUSWEET since 2017. Samyang Corporation is the first company in the world to obtain GRAS with allulose produced from enzymes found in microorganisms separated from food.

GRAS is a scheme that certifies whether a product is safe to be used as a food ingredient, and a product with this certification can be used for food without any concern over safety. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety also classifies allulose as a ‘food ingredient’ which can be used without any condition. Therefore, allulose can be used more freely than other zero-calorie sweeteners classified as ‘food additives’ such as erythritol, steviol glycoside, and sucralose.

Due to allulose’s stability, the number of products using allulose is on the rise. Currently, various products based on allulose are available in the market, including ice cream, fermented milk, soy milk, cornflakes, syrup for cafes, diet jelly, diabetic diets, and protein shakes. In particular, with an amendment to the Liquor Tax Act in February this year, allulose is allowed to be used as an additive for liquor products. Therefore, the number of product groups using allulose is expected to expand even further.

As GRAS is globally accepted, Samyang Corporation is planning to target the global market with this certification starting from the United States. In particular, US made it mandatory to indicate added sugar (sugar or syrup additionally added in food in addition to natural sugar) on food packaging from this year and excluded allulose from this requirement. Market of allulose is expected to grow more than double to KRW 50 billion from last year. Last year, Coca-Cola also launched a product that applies allulose in the North American market as the market of allulose continues to flourish.

An official from Samyang Corporation said, “With growing trends of reducing sugar, global allulose market is expected to grow continuously and reach KRW 130 billion by 2023. With this certification, we will speed up our entry into the global market not just the US but Europe as well.”

Meanwhile, Samyang Corporation has participated in the global food fair IFT since 2017 and unveiled various specialty materials including allulose. IFT is the largest fair in the food technology industry hosted by the Institute of Food Technologist (IFT), an international food academic body consisting of food experts. More than 20,000 buyers and researchers from 1,200 companies in 90 countries reportedly attend the IFT every year.