The Problem

Sugar is delicious, but it’s not good for our health. The Wyss Institute’s sugar-to-fiber enzyme product converts sugar to fiber in the human gut, reducing the amount of sugar absorbed into the bloodstream without sacrificing the taste and texture of real sugar.

The average American eats 60 pounds of sugar a year, most of that from highly processed and refined foods that are linked to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other debilitating conditions. Many sugar alternatives are on the market to try to reduce this disease burden, but these alternatives often fail to reproduce sugar’s positive effects on foods, like their flavor, texture, and browning.

Our Solution

Our team of researchers have created a product inspired by enzymes found in plants, which convert sugar to fiber. This enzyme has been engineered to only activate when it encounters a rise in pH, such as that which occurs in the transition from the human stomach to intestine. Crucially, this product can be incorporated into existing food recipes without modifying their sugar content, but reduces the amount of sugar absorbed into the bloodstream.