- I just got this package from Israel.
It's from the food science company DouxMatok,
and it contains some of their products
that are baked with restructured sugar.
The average American consumes nearly three times
the recommended amount of added sugar per day.
That totals to about 60 pounds per year.
To curb our sugar consumption,
we've tried dieting, replacing sugar with
natural or artificial sweeteners,
and created sugar-free everything.
But none of it has really worked.
So now food scientists are working to change
the makeup of sugar so we can eat a lot less,
but still register the same amount of sweetness.
We traveled to one lab and put their product to the test
to see if science can actually fool our taste buds.
Hey, Vicky.
- Hey, Chase.
- So, the answer to our sugar problem may be in this box.
It's from DouxMatok.
They sent us some samples for a taste test.
- Whoa.
- A good dispersion of the chocolate.
- This is the mullet of cookies.
It's business in the front, party in the back.
- This is Just Might Work,
a show about surprising solutions to our biggest problems.
So, the reason for our sugar problem is pretty surprising.
We only taste a fraction of the sugar we consume.
Of the 77 grams of added sugar we ingest per day,
we only taste about 15 grams or 20% of that.
The other 80% goes straight to our stomach.
- Ugh.
- Yeah.
- That's disgusting.
- Yeah, it's bad.
The sweet taste receptors on our tongues
are just less effective than other tastes.
For example, we can taste bitterness
in just a few parts per million.
But for a glass of water to taste sweet,
we have to add nearly a teaspoon of sugar.
So food manufacturers have to add a lot
of extra sugar for our tongues to register sweetness.
In fact, 74% of all packaged foods contain added sugars.
- I like these already, because they're bigger.
- So this is the lab.
Incredo Sugar might be deceivingly similar to sugar,
because if you will open one of those bags
you will see something that looks like completely
ordinary sugar crystals that you buy in the store.
The unique aspect of our technology is
that the sweetness still comes from simple sugar.
- DouxMatok and other companies are focused
on changing the sucrose molecule, which is just sugar.
They carefully imbed silicon dioxide,
a naturally occurring porous compound
used in a lot of foods, to a sugar crystal.
It increases the surface area,
making sugar more available
to hit our sweet taste receptors.
DouxMatok calls their version of sugar Incredo,
and they've been able to get a 20 to even 50%
sugar reduction in some products.
Let's start with the, how about the almond biscotti?
So there's two versions in here.
One is baked with standard sugar,
and the other one is baked with Incredo.
So we're gonna see which one we like more.
- Cool.
- Yep.
- On the count of 3.
- Okay.
- 343
- I hate to tell you this, but you're wrong.
- Wow, rude.
- On to the next one?
Butter cookies. I thought 242 was better.
- I also thought 242 was better.
- Which one was your favorite
for the chocolate chip cookies?
- Definitely 121.
- Really?
- Don't say it, Chase.
- Mine was 797.
- Let me start with a very important fact.
Sugar is not bad, okay?
Sugar is actually important.
It's the most basic energy coin that allows us to,
as humans, animals, plants, whatever,
to do everything we need to do.
But over-consumption of sugar leads to obesity,
which is one of the most severe
pandemics of the modern world.
- As obesity rates have continued to climb,
the calls to reduce our sugar intake have grown louder.
Other companies, including Nestle, have tried
rolling out restructured sugar products before.
And they just never really caught on.
Mostly because like many other products
designed to curb our sugar consumption,
they just didn't really taste like the real thing.
- Taste is the king.
Taste has always been the number one
decision driver for consumption and purchasing decisions.
We are based on real cane sugar.
We deliver on the same sweetness
and sensory experience of white sugar.
- Because the baking process to
incorporate Incredo is different for each product,
you won't be able to buy it on its own anytime soon.
And it doesn't work well in liquids,
like juices, yogurts, or sodas.
So for the time being, DouxMatok is focused
on pre-packaged foods and baking mixes.
The science doesn't stop at sugar.
Food scientists want to keep innovating
to help us hack our inability to curb bad habits.
So, salt may be next.
- The most interesting thing about humans,
what makes us human is our ability
to adapt and use technologies.
We can have this golden path
which allows us to enjoy our food,
and allow consumers to change their nutrition
for their good, without changing their habits.
- These are the results of the blind taste tests.
- All right, let's go. Let's see em.
- Vicky and I couldn't really
tell the difference between either.
I preferred the Incredo version of the almond biscotti,
and Vicky liked the chocolate chip cookie with Incredo.
- Oh my gosh. I would definitely not have guessed that.
- But we both liked the full sugar version
of the butter cookie.
So I think all in all, we really couldn't
tell the difference between both versions.
- No.
- Ultimately, our mixed reactions are
probably promising for Incredo.
These are still the very early stages of this technology.
While DouxMatok is targeting around
a 40% sugar reduction now, some experts believe
the science can eventually get to an 80 to 90% reduction.
The hope is that one day soon
breakthroughs like Incredo, combined with healthier habits,
will push us towards the moderation
that health professionals have long urged us to find.
Thanks for watching this episode of Just Might Work.
Subscribe to Freethink as we explore the solutions
that could solve our most pressing challenges.
- How are you holding your arms?
- Just naturally.
- Side by side.
- Sorry, I burped.
We're doing a taste test. What do you expect?