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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.
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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.
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