Icon Foods is debuting MonkSweet LS4, a proprietary blend of monk fruit extract and stevia extract. These two components, in concert with one another, aim to accomplish the following:

• Intensely sweeten: Achieve your desired level of sweetness with a 250-300 times sweeter combination than sugar.
• Mask off-notes: Properly remove bitter or other unwanted flavors normally associated with high protein load and functional ingredients.
• Provide clean sweetness: Provide a clean flavor that is free from bitter notes normally found in high-intensity sweeteners.
• Include mellow flavor profiles: Smooth the whole taste experience, ideally leading to more appealing and balanced products.

The product is a zero-calorie, high intensity, natural sweetener solution for use in fruit foods, meal replacement bars, cereals, snacks, desserts, confectionery products, and more. MonkSweet LS4 is kosher certifiable, non-GMO, and available in conventional and organic certified versions.

The science behind MonkSweet LS4's ability to mask off-notes in food and beverage formulas and add sweetness is a couple of important details regarding its formulation and how it interacts with taste buds, the company says. Mogroside V, monk fruit-based, and Reb M, a steviol glycoside, are highly concentrated sweeteners. Their potency is such that they will reportedly dominate the flavor profile and overpower, essentially masking off-notes. The pairing of these two sweeteners is synergistic, heightening the sweetness perception higher than that of either on their own, the company says, as ingredients in MonkSweet LS4 can supposedly alter flavor by binding to other taste molecules within the formulation. Their binding specificity has the ability to disrupt the perception of these off-tastes, either by competing with them for receptor binding sites or altering the perception pathway, the company finishes.