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Replace sugar to make a healthier snack bar
Challenge Type: food science
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$1,000
top 10
215
submissions
DONE
102 months

When it comes to tasty snacks, bars--from granola, to cereal, to protein--are all the rage right now. People love the easiness and variety of individually wrapped bars. But the high sugar content of most bars is another story. Low sugar bars are hard to manufacture, especially when you want to stick a number of different ingredients together. Sugar and sugar-type ingredients are good at binding food together, but we want to find a low-sugar binding solution that is free from artificial ingredients, artificial sweeteners, and carries a ‘clean label’ perception.

Deliverables

Propose a low-sugar, natural binding solution that could be used in the manufacturing of snack bars. Your solution should explain why the ingredient would make a great binder without adding too much sugar.

CRITERIA: We’ve already explored ingredients like honey and maple syrup, but both are loaded with sugar. Don’t submit honey, maple syrup, glucose syrup, corn syrup, high maltose corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, fructose, brown sugar, brown rice syrup, dextrose, fruit syrups or similarly sugary things, as ideas! We’ve explored natural sweeteners like stevia and monk fruit, which work great but are used at such low levels that they aren’t enough to hold a bar together. We’ve also tried bulking agents that are less sweet -- like glycerin, maltodextrin, resistant starch, tapioca starch, soluble corn fiber, inulin and chicory root extract. So please don’t submit those ideas either!

    Submissions will be graded on the following criteria:
  • Meets Deliverables
  • Creativity
  • Clarity
Reward Tiers
5 Winners
will receive $150 each
5 Honorable Mentions
will receive $50 each
Leaderboard
$150.00 Miles White University of South Florida
$150.00 Meagan Bartlett Columbus State Community College
$150.00 Forrest Colyer Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
$150.00 Ana Basgan University of Central Florida
$150.00 Andrew Klein University of Florida
$50.00 colyn andrews Cuesta College
$50.00 Anthony Zhao Boston College
$50.00 Alicia Pickering Worcester
$50.00 Samantha Eastwood Pima Community College
$50.00 Deleted
Submission questions


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