7 ms·

FTA: "The company, which makes Kitkat and Aero, says its researchers have found a way to structure sugar differently, so that it uses 40% less." Seems like the

by grok2 10y ago

FTA: "The company, which makes Kitkat and Aero, says its researchers have found a way to structure sugar differently, so that it uses 40% less." Seems like they re-invented something like Splenda?

GordonS 10y ago
The difference here (if true) is that they say it doesn't affect taste - I've never had an artificial sugar than tastes anything like sugar.
- riffraff 10y ago
  I've found xylitol tastes close enough to sugar, compared to all other sweeteners I've tried. It does appear to get "dissolved" faster though, I can't really explain.
  - cptskippy 10y ago
    Xylitol is a sugar alcohol and not an artificial sweetener.
    - logfromblammo 10y ago
      While it is technically a natural sugar alcohol, and can be refined from birch trees, most of the xylitol used in food products now is full synthetic or fermented with yeasts. It is sweet. It is artificial (sometimes). It may also draw additional water into your colon and have a "cool" mouth-feel, and it does add calories. Erythritol may be preferable for those reasons, even though it is less sweet. A common non-sugar sweetener mix is erythritol and stevia, which can, when proportioned correctly, add the same sweetness as an equal mass of refined sucrose.
  - jquast 10y ago
    xylitol is actually beneficial for your teeth. I really welcome a future of kit-kat bars made with xylitol, if its at all reasonable.
    - cestith 10y ago
      It's also a laxative, so be careful how much you consume.
- cowpewter 10y ago
  The sugar alcohols (like xylitol/erythritol/sorbitol/whatever-tol) are pretty darn close. Their problem is not so much taste as gastrointestinal upset though.
  - ravenstine 10y ago
    It should be noted that erythritol is not known for causing gastrointestinal issues. I don't really understand why we even use xylitol or sorbitol.
    - xorxornop 10y ago
      Yup, it's so superior that it seems ludicrous that others are considered comparable. The taste of it isn't quite like sugar, but it's close, and it's WAY better than any of the non-polyalcohol-sugar artificial sweeteners... and, IMO, is better tasting than isomalt, which comes second in tastiness to me, sorbitol 3rd place... I don't much like xylitol.
- birdman3131 10y ago
  And it has gotten worse lately. Many manufactures are doing half sugar and half artificial sweetener. And they never label it as such leading me to take a sip and promptly throw the rest away.
utexaspunk 10y ago
Could it be air? Like, they physically structured the sugar granules to have tiny air pockets inside them? It doesn't necessarily have to be restructured at the molecular level...
- buzzybee 10y ago
  This is the most plausible hypothesis I've heard since it's already been done with ice cream, and people actually enjoy and prefer the experience of it(despite the obvious downside of getting less Stuff).
- inimino 10y ago
  The sugar in chocolate is dissolved, right? So there aren't any granules in the final product. They already mix air into most cheap chocolate-like candy products.
  - mncharity 10y ago
    No, not fully dissolved. The sugar grain size is what determines smooth vs gritty mouth feel. There are micrographs on the harvard wiki, and in my video, linked from another comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13087023 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13087023 There are porous aggregate sugar grains already in use. It's not that they're full of air, just smaller than usual particles (so they dissolve faster) roughly clumped into normal sized agglomerations.
    - inimino 10y ago
      Thanks! Should have known there was more to it than I realized, interesting.
adevine 10y ago
Splenda is a totally different chemical compound, though, with a chlorine atom. The article makes it sound like it's still sugar but with a different physical arrangement of molecules.
mncharity 10y ago
One possibility is "instant sugar... now in chocolate!" discussed below. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13087023 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13087023

by grok2 10y ago

FTA: "The company, which makes Kitkat and Aero, says its researchers have found a way to structure sugar differently, so that it uses 40% less." Seems like they re-invented something like Splenda?

GordonS 10y ago

The difference here (if true) is that they say it doesn't affect taste - I've never had an artificial sugar than tastes anything like sugar.

riffraff 10y ago
I've found xylitol tastes close enough to sugar, compared to all other sweeteners I've tried. It does appear to get "dissolved" faster though, I can't really explain.
- cptskippy 10y ago
  Xylitol is a sugar alcohol and not an artificial sweetener.
  - logfromblammo 10y ago
    While it is technically a natural sugar alcohol, and can be refined from birch trees, most of the xylitol used in food products now is full synthetic or fermented with yeasts. It is sweet. It is artificial (sometimes). It may also draw additional water into your colon and have a "cool" mouth-feel, and it does add calories. Erythritol may be preferable for those reasons, even though it is less sweet. A common non-sugar sweetener mix is erythritol and stevia, which can, when proportioned correctly, add the same sweetness as an equal mass of refined sucrose.
- jquast 10y ago
  xylitol is actually beneficial for your teeth. I really welcome a future of kit-kat bars made with xylitol, if its at all reasonable.
  - cestith 10y ago
    It's also a laxative, so be careful how much you consume.
cowpewter 10y ago
The sugar alcohols (like xylitol/erythritol/sorbitol/whatever-tol) are pretty darn close. Their problem is not so much taste as gastrointestinal upset though.
- ravenstine 10y ago
  It should be noted that erythritol is not known for causing gastrointestinal issues. I don't really understand why we even use xylitol or sorbitol.
  - xorxornop 10y ago
    Yup, it's so superior that it seems ludicrous that others are considered comparable. The taste of it isn't quite like sugar, but it's close, and it's WAY better than any of the non-polyalcohol-sugar artificial sweeteners... and, IMO, is better tasting than isomalt, which comes second in tastiness to me, sorbitol 3rd place... I don't much like xylitol.
birdman3131 10y ago
And it has gotten worse lately. Many manufactures are doing half sugar and half artificial sweetener. And they never label it as such leading me to take a sip and promptly throw the rest away.

utexaspunk 10y ago

Could it be air? Like, they physically structured the sugar granules to have tiny air pockets inside them? It doesn't necessarily have to be restructured at the molecular level...

buzzybee 10y ago
This is the most plausible hypothesis I've heard since it's already been done with ice cream, and people actually enjoy and prefer the experience of it(despite the obvious downside of getting less Stuff).
inimino 10y ago
The sugar in chocolate is dissolved, right? So there aren't any granules in the final product. They already mix air into most cheap chocolate-like candy products.
- mncharity 10y ago
  No, not fully dissolved. The sugar grain size is what determines smooth vs gritty mouth feel. There are micrographs on the harvard wiki, and in my video, linked from another comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13087023 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13087023 There are porous aggregate sugar grains already in use. It's not that they're full of air, just smaller than usual particles (so they dissolve faster) roughly clumped into normal sized agglomerations.
  - inimino 10y ago
    Thanks! Should have known there was more to it than I realized, interesting.

adevine 10y ago

Splenda is a totally different chemical compound, though, with a chlorine atom. The article makes it sound like it's still sugar but with a different physical arrangement of molecules.

mncharity 10y ago

One possibility is "instant sugar... now in chocolate!" discussed below. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13087023 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13087023