On the functional sweetener front, Ali Wing CEO of Oobli, notes, "There’s been growing interest in exploring sweet proteins as an innovative new sweetener option as CPG companies look to create better low-sugar product lines."
Wing brings up another point: "Recent reports have linked alternative sweeteners like sucralose and aspartame to gut issues, and the sugar alcohols xylitol and erythritol to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Oobli sweet proteins are plant proteins that are up to 5,000x sweeter than sugar and can replace 70-90% of sugar in most food and beverage products."
