HFSS crackdowns: Givaudan discusses reformulation opportunities as European legislation tightens

Foods High in Fat, Sugar, or Salt (HFSS) are under the spotlight as regulators tighten rules and consumers hunt supermarket shelves for healthier choices. Sugar reduction is directly related to this class of products, since it can help brands meet HFSS standards, from advertising limits to labeling and reformulation targets.

In the UK and the EU, HFSS criteria are integral to public health strategies aimed at combating obesity and diet-related diseases. These benchmarks are applied to regulate marketing and advertising, especially to children, so that HFSS foods cannot be promoted through TV, digital media, or in schools.

Emphasis on HFSS also drives reformulation targets, encouraging F&B manufacturers to reduce sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats to increase the health quotient of their products.

Andrew Daniher, growth platform director, Hydration & Refreshment at Givaudan Taste & Wellbeing, speaks with Food Ingredients First about how brands can balance flavor and well-being to develop reduced-sugar formulations that “align indulgence with nutritional balance” while navigating tightening regulations around HFSS foods.

What has driven the increased focus on HFSS products in recent years, and why are regulators trying to limit their marketing and consumption?

Daniher: HFSS products are a hot topic. Regulators are responding to rising public health concerns with new policies, such as the UK HFSS advertising ban from 2026. Sugar reduction is a core part of this. 

F&B brands must balance cost, sourcing, and operational complexity while delivering quality, says Daniher.The WHO highlights: “Worldwide adult obesity has more than doubled since 1990, and adolescent obesity has quadrupled.” It says in 2024, “35 million children under the age of five were overweight.” With the sharp rise in non-communicable diseases, obesity, and childhood obesity, there are more regulations on the horizon. 

There is a distinct “sugar shift” among consumers, and Givaudan’s research amplifies this further. F&B brands need to balance cost, ingredient sourcing, and operational complexity while still delivering elevated product experiences. 

At Givaudan, we are co-creating flavor-forward, reduced-sugar food experiences that align indulgence with nutritional balance. Our global experts are collaborating closely with partners to innovate with purpose.

With upcoming advertising bans in the UK and EU, how is Givaudan helping manufacturers reformulate products while maintaining appeal? 

Daniher: Givaudan partners with brands to turn reformulation into an opportunity for differentiation. As the UK’s HFSS advertising ban approaches in January 2026, and other regulations emerge across Europe, the need for appealing reduced-sugar options has never been greater.  

Givaudan’s expert teams support partners in ingredient selection, recipe reformulation, and taste optimization. The challenge is not only to reduce sugar but also to maintain the emotional, sensorial experience that consumers expect. There is a need to overcome the many obstacles linked to alternative sweeteners, like bitterness and aftertaste. Beverage and food companies need solutions to mask off-notes and imbalances in sweetness modulation and develop fresh recipes that consumers will covet. 

An innovative, often customized approach is necessary to meet ever-changing market needs that can deliver flavorful, nutritionally balanced products that cut sugar. Going beyond traditional descriptive profiling, a holistic profiling approach moves beyond traditional metrics to uncover how consumers truly perceive sweetness, enabling more effective product creation. 

How does Givaudan approach the sugar reduction challenge within the context of HFSS regulations?

Daniher: Sugar reduction is a scientific domain that’s extraordinarily complex, touching on sensory, technical, regulatory and emotional factors. Consumers want less sugar, but not at the expense of enjoyment. 

Reduced-sugar or zero-sugar drinks face low sweetness, bitterness, increased sourness, and off-note challenges.When sugar is reduced or removed, the perceived richness and satisfaction can suffer. Givaudan’s role is to co-create delicious, nutritionally mindful alternatives without compromising the taste experience. 

We draw on deep scientific expertise and creative culinary thinking to support the development of reduced-sugar food and drink products across categories. In doing so, we’re helping customers respond to legislation and market shifts with confidence and agility. 

What key considerations must manufacturers consider when balancing reduced sugar with flavor?

Daniher: Recreating an authentic taste experience with reduced sugar can be difficult. It involves overcoming obstacles associated with alternative sweeteners, such as aftertaste. Sugar reduction can affect different applications in diverse ways.

For example, reduced-sugar or zero-sugar drinks face distinct challenges regarding low sweetness, bitterness, increased sourness, and off-notes. Furthermore, reducing sugar in beverages can also impact the overall mouthfeel of the product. Masking the off taste of high-intensity sweeteners is key here. 

In baked goods, sugar reduction can lead to inferior mouthfeel and may also impact texture, color, and shelf life. Bulking to replace sugar is also needed.

The key is to fully understand which solutions are best suited to eliminate the product’s off-notes and imbalances when reducing sugar. It’s also a concern that consumers might switch brands if unsatisfied with the reformulated taste. Givaudan combines advanced taste modulation with science-based profiling and AI tools to deliver smarter solutions. 

For example: TasteSolutions Sweetness helps our customers create indulgent, sugar-reduced taste experiences by providing delicious flavor alternatives and “smiles without sugar.” 

Nutri TasteSolutions Sugar offers zero or less sugar on the label, providing optimal nutritional value without compromising taste. 

How do sweeteners like steviol glycosides, monk fruit, and sweet proteins play a role in sugar reduction, and what challenges exist in incorporating them into HFSS-compliant products? 

Daniher: The changing consumer perception of high-intensity sweeteners is a particularly crucial point to consider. There is a positive outlook around sweeteners such as honey, maple syrup, and fruit juices. On the other hand, consumers are increasingly hesitant about artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, cyclamate, acesulfame K, saccharin, and sucralose. 

Consumers have a positive outlook around sweeteners such as honey, maple syrup, and fruit juices.This trend has led to the development of new natural, zero-calorie sweeteners, including new stevia derivatives, more expensive monk fruit and allulose options, and even new sweet proteins, such as brazzein. There is a great demand from consumers for reduced-sugar products with more natural sweeteners.  

The challenge with these sweeteners is their temporal onset of sweetness. Sugar delivers a crisp, clean sweetness with fast onset and a clean back end. Many of these natural sweeteners have a delayed onset or a sweet linger. Givaudan’s Taste Solutions Sweetness can drive their temporal sweet quality closer to that of sugar.

What do you believe will be the most exciting advancements in sweeteners and sugar reduction in the near future?   

Daniher:  Some of the most exciting advancements in sweeteners and sugar reduction will come from harnessing the immense and largely untapped “natural chemical space” to find novel, plant- and nature-derived molecules that can enhance sweetness perception while enabling significant sugar reduction.  

By combining advanced cheminformatics, machine learning and in silico discovery techniques, researchers can map and navigate hundreds of thousands of natural compounds, identifying promising molecular “neighborhoods” with sweet-modulating chemistry, such as certain flavonoids or glycosides, while also uncovering completely new, unexplored opportunities. This data driven approach will not only accelerate ingredient discovery and shorten development cycles, but also help overcome long-standing challenges like off-tastes, low solubility, or stability issues, all while keeping solutions natural, health-focused, and sustainable.

Scientists continue to study the mechanism of how we perceive sweetness at the receptor level. This will enable AI to discover natural products and proteins that taste sugary sweet or those that can modulate sweetness toward a more desired profile.