Invited review: Sugar reduction in dairy products

Sugar overconsumption continues to increase worldwide and contributes to multiple health-related issues. Dairy foods represent a large market, grossing more than $125 billion per year worldwide. Consumer demands for healthier products are leading to a large push for sugar reduction in dairy foods. Sugar plays an important role in dairy foods, not only in flavor but also in texture, color, and viscosity. Replacing sugar can have negative effects, making substitution inherently difficult. Natural and artificial nonnutritive sweeteners exist for sugar reduction. Natural nonnutritive sweeteners are popular, particularly for label appeal, but many consumers still prefer the taste of artificial nonnutritive sweeteners. Sweet taste perception can also be affected by texture of the food matrix and the presence of fat. Other sugar reduction techniques include hydrolysis of lactose, ultrafiltration, and direct reduction. This review will address the role of sugar, alternative sweeteners, and sugar reduction in ice cream, yogurt, and flavored milk.