CHICAGO, April 6 /PRNewswire/ — Ajinomoto Company Inc., the leading global supplier of aspartame, has applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval of Advantame, an innovative sweetener for use in foods and beverages.

Advantame has a sweet, clean sugar-like taste. Because it is much sweeter than most low and non-calorie sweeteners currently available, it is anticipated to be a top candidate for food and beverage formulations. Heightened attention to the importance of healthy body weight has significantly increased demand for ingredients that deliver a good, sweet taste without adding extra calories.

“We are all very excited about Advantame. The clean sugar-like taste means that it blends very well with sugar and high fructose corn syrup, providing food and drink companies with an alternative that has both nutritional and environmental advantages. Equally, Advantame can be used very successfully by product formulators in the sweetening systems of low calorie and no calorie products,” said Brendan Naulty, President of Ajinomoto Food Ingredients LLC.

Ajinomoto has spent almost ten years in researching and developing the next generation of non caloric sweeteners. Advantame is the first of the new sweeteners that the company intends to introduce to the market in the next few years.

The Japanese food and amino acid giant is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.