In recent years, with the improvement of living standards, people's dietary patterns are also developing towards the direction of high-fat, high-calorie, and high-sugar dietary intake, which is more likely to cause chronic diseases and have adverse effects on health. At present, the intake of added sugar is attracting more and more attention worldwide, and many countries and regions have raised the level of "sugar reduction" to the level of national compulsory control. The guidance of global policies has accelerated the development of the sugar-reduced food industry and the launch of new products. Low-sugar and sugar substitute foods are becoming a new trend.

Mogroside is a triterpene glycoside compound, mainly derived from monk fruit. Mogroside has no calories, pure sweetness, no peculiar smell, strong aftertaste, and good thermal stability. It can be used as a sweetener for food and dishes, and is an ideal sugar substitute for diabetics.

Market Situation of Mogroside.

At present, mogroside is mainly produced by extraction method, which is limited by the planting area of monk fruit. Compared with new sweeteners such as stevioside, the production of mogroside is less. According to China's public information, the global sweetener market output is currently about 162,400 tons, and China's sweetener output is about 121,400 tons. China's sweetener production accounts for 75% of the global sweetener production and is the largest sweetener producer. As a sweetener extracted from natural plants, Mogroside has a current annual output of only 1,500 tons, which has huge room for development. In the past ten years, the average annual growth rate of production capacity has been 15%, and the total annual production capacity of leading enterprises is between 150-300 tons. However, because mogroside is limited by the planting area and climate of upstream raw materials, the planting area is limited, making it difficult to expand its production capacity in a short period of time.

Related policies of Mogroside.

Mogroside is a new type of sweetener, and all countries have product access policies. Taking China, the United States and Europe as examples, the relevant policies are as follows:

1. China policy.

According to the "National Food Safety Standard-Food Additive Mogroside" (GB1886.77-2016), the product quality requirements of Mogroside are specified; according to the "National Food Safety Standard-Food Additive Use Standard" (GB2760-2014), Mogroside is listed as a food additive that can be used in appropriate amounts in various foods according to production needs. Enterprises can manufacture and sell mogroside products in China in accordance with relevant standards.

2. US policy.

At present, mogroside manufacturers generally hope to sell mogroside as a GRAS (Generally recognized as safe) substance rather than a food additive, thereby exempting the restriction that food additive products need to be approved for marketing, which greatly shortens and simplifies the development of new products , approval, application.

3. EU policy.

According to the requirements of the current regulation No. 1331/2008 on the unified safety assessment procedure of food additives, to apply for new uses of existing food additives and to apply for the use of new food additives, applicants need to submit a formal application to the European Commission, which should specify the use purpose and scientific safety data. If the application is accepted, the Commission will formally request the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to conduct a safety assessment. After the new food additive has passed the safety assessment, the European Commission will finally pass a law to include it in the list of food additives and allow its use. At the same time, the specific conditions and standards for the use of the additive should be specified in the list. As for the mogroside products, the European Food Safety Authority has assessed its safety in accordance with the requirements of the European Commission and published a research report in 2019. According to the report, the expert group concluded that the toxicity database of monk fruit extract was insufficient to draw conclusions about the safety of using monk fruit extract as a food additive. Mogroside has not been listed as a food additive in the regulatory documents issued by the European Union in December 2020, so manufacturers are not yet able to sell related products within the European Union.

The future of the mogroside industry.

In the future, with the continuous expansion of the planting range of monk fruit and breakthroughs in the biosynthesis of mogrosides, the flavor of mixed sugars containing mogrosides will be further improved, thereby increasing supply and stimulating product demand, and the mogroside industry is expected to develop rapidly. As an excellent representative of natural sweeteners, mogroside will gradually replace artificial sweeteners and become an indispensable "darling" of the sugar substitute industry.