High Fructose Syrup
F.F. Dias, D. Mehta and H.K. Tekchandani
One of the major discoveries in the field of nutritive
sweeteners was the development of a process for the isomerization
of glucose to fructose. For the first time it became possible
to produce a starch derived syrup which was as sweet as
sucrose (sugar) and known as 'High fructose syrup' (HFS)
which has become a major sweetener with in two decades.
The shift to sucrose is akin to the shift from honey to
sucrose in the middle ages. The shift was catalysed by
the economic incentives provided by the wide fluctuations
in sugar prices (in the United States) and a desired to
develop an alternate sweetener from abundantly (in the
U.S.A.) available maize.
The genesis of fructose syrup
Sucrose has been man's primary sweetener. Sucrose is
sweeter than glucose, and pure crystals can be recovered
from juices extracted from sugar beets or sugar cane with
relative ease. The higher sweetness of sucrose as compared
to glucose prevented the latter from capturing only a
small fraction of the sugar market. When sugar is hydrolyed
with a 50:50 invert syrup is produced. The starch industry
aimed to be able to produce such a syrup by the isomerization
of glucose to fructose as this would mean an additional
avenue for maize utilization. In the USA this is considered
to be another avenue for the use of corn.
The degree of enzymatic isomerization depends on several
operating parameters. While isomerization levels in excess
of 50% fructose are possible, conversion to 42% fructose
content was selected as having the best balance between
increased sweetness and process economics. The first commercial
shipment of 42% fructose syrup was made in 1968.
The new sweetener did begin to replace sucrose in many
applications. However, it was not sweet enough to meet
the demands of the soft drink producers. A separation
procedure was developed that was able to produce a syrup
with over 90% fructose. This syrup is blended with 42%
syrup to produce a syrup with 55% fructose, acceptable
to soft drink manufacturers. The first large-scale production
of 55% syrup began in 1978. A schematic representation
of HFS is given in Figure 1.
Within a few years fructose syrup represented more than
half of the caloric sweeteners consumed in the U.S.A.
By the late eighties there were over 80 manufacturing
units worldwide, producing more than 6.6 million MT (dry
basis) of fructose syrup. The use of HFS in food processing
industry became so extensive that both 'Pepsi and 'Coke'
switched over to 100% HFS in place of surcose. In the
USA, starch based sweetners have capatured 60% of the
sweetner market.
Opportunities in India
The growth of the HFS market is linked to the availability
of sugar, especially in countries like India, who are
major sugar producers. It is therefore, necessary to briefly
review the sugar scenario. Apart from Asia there has been
a slow consumption growth for sugar. One factor has been
a significant volume of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
substituting for sugar in North America and some Asian
countries such as Japan. However, despite rapid growth
in sugar consumption, Asia continues to have the lowest
sugar consumption of any region. For the world's two most
populous nations, India and China, sugar consumption in
1995/96 is projected at 15.0 and 8.0 millions MT, up 3.4
and 1.9%. With a combined population in 1994/95 estimated
at 2.2 billion, India and China are expected to account
for nearly 60% of Asia's total sugar use and nearly 20%
of the world total. A decade earlier, India's sugar use
was estimated at 9.1 million and China's at 2.2 million
tons-together only 11.5% of the world total. Per capita
sugar use for India is now around 14 kilograms and for
China only 6 kilograms, strikingly different from the
30 to 40 kilogram range in Europe and much of Latin America.
India is near the bottom of the list when it comes to
soft drink consumption. Most sugar in India is used in
hot beverages such as tea and coffee, and in traditional
confections. The demand for sweeteners in India is expected
to increase, and one of the areas that could see considerable
growth is soft drinks. This is an area that is the largest
user of HFS worldwide, and the CII-McKinsey & Company
FAIDA study, January, 1997, drinks are in the large market
size, high growth rate area.
There are three main constraints to the manufacture of
HFS in India. The first is the cost of manufacturing HFS
vis-a-vis the price of sugar. The second is the availability
of maize. The third are the provisions of the Prevention
of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 and other relevant laws.
Regarding the cost of manufacture, it should be noted
that the comparison of costs should be between HFS and
the price of sugar solution after purification, as used
by the soft drink industry. Also, if the demand for HFS
and other starch applications grow, the amount of maize
processed will increase, and the economies of sale will
bring the cost of manufacturing starch down. The newer
plants which will be necessary to handle the increased
volumes will be more efficient than existing plants. The
international norms for recovery are much higher than
those prevailing for most plants in India. For example,
starch yields can be as high as 67% in the United States.
In India, they are usually less than 64%.
Based on these criteria a detailed investigation is being
undertaken to access the viability of producing HFS in
India. Regarding the availability of maize, prima facie,
it would appear that it should be possible to increase
production more easily than the production of sugarcane.
The yield of maize in India is a low 1.5 MT per hectare
compared to a world average of about 3.6 MT per hectare
and a high of 8MT per hectare in the United States, Canada,
and Western Europe. With the proper inputs it should be
possible to double production in a relatively short time
much in the manner that the "green revolution"
increased the availability of wheat in India. Regarding
PFA, there is no mention of high fructose syrup of fructose.
The Fruit Products Order, 1955, permits the use of "invert
sugar fructose" under Part II. A sine-qua-non for
any enterprise starting the manufacture of HFS would be
an unequivocal indication that the law permits its use
in various applications. Directorate General of Health
services, P.H. (Food) Section, Government of India, should,
on it own, go ahead with ammending the provisions and
listing HFS as a sweetening agent under Rule A.07 of Appendix
B, and also permitting its use in products for which a
standard of identity exists. The world-wide acceptance
of HFS as a food additive and sweetening agent, as well
as the fact that its constituents are permitted in foods,
should not make this difficult.
________________
F.F. Dias is Vice-President, Technical and D. Mehta and
H.K. Tekchandani are Senior Executives, The Anil Starch
Products Ltd, Ahmedabad 380025, Gujarat.
