Holista CollTech Limited have announced that it has collaborated with 2017 Nobel Prize Nominee and emerging thought leader in carbohydrate chemistry, Daryl Thompson, to file a patent for the world’s first lowGlycemic Index (“GI”) sugar made out of all-natural ingredients. 

Thompson, a US national who was nominated for the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, and Dr. Rajen Manicka, CEO of Holista, have a longstanding working partnership. Both are listed as co-inventors of the patent. 
 
The low-GI sugar is the newest addition to Australia Securities Exchange-listed Holista’s low-GI suite of products. High-GI foods are rapidly and easily converted to sugar, causing spikes in blood sugar levels that can lead to heart disease, diabetes and obesity over time.  
 
Unlike other alternatives which can only be used in beverages, such as artificial sweeteners, Holista’s natural low-GI sugar can be melted, baked and caramelised for use in all cooking applications. When consumed, it reduces the rate that glucose is digested throughout the body.  
 
A 2012 study in the health journal Nature, suggested that sugar – including sucrose and high fructose corn syrup – should be considered as toxic as other substances harmful to public health, such as with alcohol or tobacco. The authors urged government regulation to curb consumption, including taxes, advertisement restrictions, and even age requirements for purchase of sugary foods. 
 
The low-GI sugar formula is being refined before testing at the world renowned GI Labs in Toronto for final validation. As the product is made from natural ingredients, it is unlikely to face regulatory hurdles. Holista expects to launch the product before June 2017. 
 
Holista has already seen successes in its other low-GI products. On 12 January 2016, it announced that it had partnered VERIPAN AG, a Swiss supplier of speciality bakery ingredients, to combine its low-GI formula with the latter’s natural sourdough to create the clean-label PANATURA GI. When incorporated into flour-based products, PANATURA GI significantly reduces the GI impact on the human body. 
 
The product was tested at the University of Sydney wher it recorded the world’s lowest GI reading of white bread, 53. Since then, Holista and four of Asia Pacific’s top flour and bread manufacturers have begun research trials to produce healthier baked products using this GI reducer. Holista recently partnered Wing’s, a major North American noodle manufacturer, to develop the world’s first low-GI noodles. The formula has also been used successfully to produce low-GI muffins. 
 
Rajen Manicka, Chairman and CEO of Holista, said: “The low-GI sugar mimics how nature adds sugars found in fruits and vegetables. Sugar in nature is low-GI and our formula is based on this insight. It satisfies all the sensory requirements of sugar. It also can replac sugar in its many industrial applications with minimal formulation challenges.” 
 
Daryl Thompson, Director of the Global Research and Discovery Group in Florida, said: “In todays day and age we have an urgent need to create smarter foods. The low-GI Sugar formulation incorporates key strategies that have been developed by nature to deliver a more biologically sound and health conscience sweetener. The potential impact on the food industry could be significant.” 
 
Thompson also created Emulin, the world’s first physiological carbohydrate manager, which Holista has exclusive Asia Pacific rights to. 

Nadja Piatka, CEO of Holista Foods, a US subsidiary of the Group, added: “In survey after survey, a growing number of consumers are saying that they do not want to see “sugar” on the label. The industry gets it. The challenge is that the only alternatives out there are either chemical-based, which consumers reject, or are difficult to formulate in terms of taste and mouth feel as with intense sweeteners like stevia or monk fruit. This formula should solve this.”