Innovative Welsh research to help people lead a healthier lifestyle by reducing the amount of sugar in biscuits is to be made available free to bakery businesses across Wales.
Llanrwst-based Shepherd’s Biscuits Ltd has been at the centre of a Welsh Government-backed project to see if the sugar content in biscuit recipes could be reduced without affecting the products’ flavour, texture, or appearance.
Prompted by the need to improve consumer health and the possibility of a sugar tax being levied on food producers, the bakery business’ directors, James Shepherd and James Wasdell, embarked on a Welsh Government-backed project to reduce the sugar content in biscuits by 20 to 30 per cent.
With part-funding from the Welsh Government’s Covid Recovery Fund, Shepherd’s Biscuits began research into ‘Developing lower-sugar and lower-carbohydrate solutions for the biscuit industry with applications to the wider bakery sector in Wales’.
James Shepherd said, “We’ve seen the effects of the sugar tax on drinks and the emergence of zero and diet drinks, many of which use high-potency sweeteners. There’s been a lot of talk of a sugar tax on food too, and I think it will happen. So when I heard about the Welsh Government’s Covid Recovery Fund, I applied to develop a lower-sugar biscuit.”
James has been closely collaborating with experts at Grŵp Llandrillo Menai’s Food Technology Centre in Llangefni to see if previous UK Government targets for reducing sugar and carbohydrate were achievable without compromising the biscuit recipe.
He said, “The project looked to explore and develop new methods for producing lower-sugar, lower-carbohydrate biscuits which taste every bit as good as their traditional high-sugar, high-carbohydrate equivalents.”
Early into the project, it was found that reducing carbohydrate content can impact the quality of some types of biscuits, so attention was more focused on meeting the target of cutting sugar content by at least 20 per cent.
Extensive analysis and recipe and production trials were conducted to achieve the desired outcomes regarding sugar reduction and product flavour and texture.
The result has been the development of a sugar replacing blend derived from five ingredients – sugar, soluble fibre, maltodextrin, fructose, and a natural sweetener.
Julia Skinner from Grŵp Llandrillo Menai’s Food Technology Centre was involved in both the background research and kitchen trials to develop biscuit recipes with lowered sugar and carbohydrate content.
She said, “My research looked into Government policies and initiatives to improve the nation’s health, such as the previous challenge to the industry to achieve a 20 per cent sugar reduction in a range of products that contribute the most to children’s sugar intake. I then reviewed healthier biscuits on the market to better understand the ingredients typically used to achieve such benefits.”
This work led to an investigation of all ingredients with the potential to partially or totally substitute wheat flour and lower the carbohydrate content or replace sugar. Some of the larger ingredient suppliers also offer their own solutions to these issues with targeted specialist ingredients.
Julia then undertook kitchen trials, scanning a range of the most promising ingredients in a biscuit recipe. Nutritional software was used to quantify each improvement achieved, and a sensory taste panel was then brought in to provide feedback on the most promising recipes.
Julia said, “It was surprising how much sugar could be removed just by adjusting the proportions of ingredients within the recipe, which was the simplest approach.
“A range of soluble fibre ingredients and maltodextrin worked very well as partial sugar substitutes whilst still providing the bulk properties of the replaced sugar. Where the sweetness then required a boost, this could be provided by natural flavour enhancers. Alternatively, polyol ingredients such as maltitol work well as total sugar replacers, although their consumption does come with limits.
“We are now pushing to get the wider Welsh bakery industry on board with reducing sugar in their products so that we can achieve a real impact on our daily diets.”
Food Innovation Wales – the umbrella body that comprises of Wales’ three food centres – works with the food and drink companies to help them grow, innovate, compete and reach new markets.
Ann Marie Flinn, who isAgri-Food Technical Manager, said, “The team at The Food Technology Centre are pleased to have been asked to support Shepherd’s Biscuits. The project, which was supported by the Welsh Government Covid Recovery Challenge fund, allowed us to look into the Welsh bakery industry, with a particular focus on biscuits.
“This work has been in line with the overarching Welsh Government strategy ‘Healthy Weight : Healthy Wales’, which aims to incrementally improve the health and wellbeing on the nation. The long term goal has been to share knowledge on how to reduce the hidden sugar and lower carbohydrate in our tea time treats.”
A member of the Food & Drink Wales Fine Food Cluster, Shepherd’s Biscuits is also working with the team at Menter a Busnes, who have been sharing the knowledge
gained from the project with the Welsh bakery sector. Also, the findings of the project are available at www.thebiscuitproject.com
James Wasdell said, “The aim of this project has been to not only create a high quality, lower-sugar – and initially a lower-carbohydrate – biscuit but also to share the ingredients and knowledge which the wider Welsh bakery industry can apply.”
Also, the work has the potential to be applied to other baked goods, including cakes, and James would like to see the project’s findings taken on board by the bakery sector.
James said, “We’ve calculated that swapping sugar for the new sweetening blend adds about five per cent to the cost of production. So we need a commercial ingredient manufacturer to take this on and create blends that bakeries can buy in and reduce the sugar content in their goods too.”
Originally known as the Aberffraw Biscuit Company, Shepherd’s Biscuits Ltd is renowned for reviving and producing Britain’s oldest biscuit – the distinctive scallop shell-shaped Aberffraw biscuit, which dates back 800 years.
A former journalist, James Shepherd founded the business a decade ago after being inspired by an episode of The Great British Bake Off where contestants were tasked with producing the historic bake.
James said, “I was watching The Great British Bake Off, and they were making Aberffraw biscuits, and it was said they originated in North Wales and were the oldest biscuits in Britain. I hadn’t heard of them, so I thought I’d try and make a few.”
It took James several months to perfect the biscuit’s scallop shell- shape, and he then took them to Llangollen Food Festival, where the ensuing publicity saw his biscuits tasted live on television by none other than Paul Hollywood.
Since then, the company has expanded into other varieties of biscuits, which are produced at its SALSA-accredited production unit by the eight full-time and two part-time members of staff.
Shepherd’s biscuits are sold to various retail customers – independent stores, food service providers – and the hospitality sector, including a range of leading hotels in the UK While the Aberffraw biscuit recipe will remain the same, James plans to produce other biscuits in the company’s range using the new knowledge gained from this project.