Sugar Reduction: HTBA Flags Sensory Gaps & Flavonoid Solutions for Clean Label Products

London, United Kingdom — 20 July 2026

Achieving significant sugar reduction in food and beverage products, including supplements, now necessitates a comprehensive reformulation strategy that extends beyond simply replacing sweetness. HTBA, a flavour solutions provider, indicates that sugar removal strips products of key attributes such as mouthfeel, texture, and flavour balance, often exposing inherent bitterness or off-notes, particularly when high-intensity sweeteners are used. This challenge is compounded by the concurrent industry shifts towards clean label ingredients and the integration of functional components like plant proteins, botanicals, and vitamins, each introducing additional sensory complexities.

Mauro Trevisani, General Manager North America and Division Manager for Taste Modulation Solutions at HTBA, explains that while traditional sugar reduction focused on finding sweeter substitutes, current formulators face multiple constraints simultaneously. Functional ingredients introduce prominent off-notes, such as 'green' or 'earthy' tones from plant proteins, which sugar typically suppressed. Conventional masking agents, while effective against bitterness, can mute overall flavour profiles and complicate ingredient declarations. The structural impact of sugar removal on product matrix — affecting bulk, viscosity, and sweetness perception kinetics — further exacerbates the 'sensory gap', leading to profiles that can feel thin, flat, and inconsistent. This situation drives the demand for more sophisticated taste modulation technologies.

Citrus-derived flavonoid taste modulators represent a key innovation in this space. Unlike conventional masking agents that merely cover off-notes, flavonoids actively modify how taste signals are perceived. HTBA's OptiTaste platform, for instance, aims to optimise sweetness onset, minimise aftertaste linger, and balance overall flavour perception across sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami profiles. These modulators are designed to be effective at very low inclusion rates, often classified as natural flavours by bodies like the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA), thereby supporting clean label objectives without adding declaration complexity. This technology is particularly valuable in addressing the bitter or astringent notes introduced by fortifying ingredients, offering a targeted solution that avoids overlaying with excessive sweetness.

Formulation challenges vary significantly across categories. In sports beverages, the focus is on balancing sodium levels with the metallic aftertastes of high-potency sweeteners. For plant-based dairy and protein bars, the primary concern is neutralising 'beany' or 'powdery' notes from ingredients like faba protein. Effective taste modulation is crucial to ensure consumer acceptance in these diverse applications.

What this means for United Kingdom

UK supplement manufacturers face heightened pressure to reformulate for sugar reduction, especially with regulatory bodies like the FSA scrutinising 'high in' declarations. Brands must invest in advanced taste modulation to maintain product palatability and prevent erosion of consumer trust due to poor sensory experience, crucial for market leaders like Boots and Holland & Barrett. Utilizing natural, clean label solutions like citrus flavonoids offers a competitive advantage, enabling compliance with stricter ingredient transparency demands and potentially reducing reformulation windows by up to 30%. Procurament leads should assess HTBA’s OptiTaste platform to validate efficacy and cost-in-use against current flavour systems, ensuring compliant and consumer-acceptable product launches.

Brand owners increasingly rely on contract-manufacturing partners such as Supplement Factory to navigate these requirements.