Lakanto In Canada: A Comprehensive Guide To A Sweetener Alternative

The excessive amounts of sugar in processed foods and sweets may taste good, but their potential adverse health effects leave behind a bad taste. Sugar alternatives and substitutes are better for you, but many avoid using them because of their strange taste. Fortunately, there is an even better alternative–monk fruit sweeteners. Papagino Foods brings the novelty Lakanto sweeteners to Canada from China. Monk fruit is not a commonly known fruit, but its history is quite interesting.

 

Inspired by the Luo Han monks that discovered monk fruit, Lakanto was created with the desire to completely change the sugar-free world and bring chi, or life energy, to everyone. Over a thousand years ago, when these monks discovered the fruit, they considered it sacred and thought it was the secret to longevity, giving it the name “the Immortals’ fruit”. They also used it for medicinal purposes like treating coughs, congestion, and sore throats.

 

Monk fruit farms in China have been around for centuries, but the fruit’s superiority as the ideal substitute for sugar was only recently discovered in 1993. Today, Lakanto monk fruit sweeteners are made from monk fruit, a small round fruit in the same family as gourds. It is also called Luo Han Guo, Immortals’ fruit, and Swingle fruit. The fruit is native to the mountainous regions of southern China, where the environmental conditions are perfect for them to grow.

Lakanto is a highly climate-conscious manufacturer, maintaining traditional farming methods that use natural pest control instead of pesticides. The remote mountains of Guilin, China, away from polluted cities, are the perfect elevation for optimal fruit growth. A mountainous region also protects the fruit from flood damage and provides access to unpolluted water. 

Lakanto makes their sweeteners through a mogroside extraction process. Mogrosides are the natural compounds in monk fruit that give the extract its high-intensity sweetness. For the production of monk fruit sweeteners, Lakanto’s processing plant maintains the highest quality standards that ensure their freshness and sweetness, going through three quality assurance checks, including lab testing for over 400 chemicals. The plant is close to the fruit field, so once they are picked, they go straight there to be washed, crushed, and steeped in hot water. 

The extraction process begins by removing the fruits’ seeds and skin. Then, it is crushed and filtered to remove fructose, sucrose, and flavour-altering proteins. After extraction, all that is  left are different concentrations of the mogroside compound which are then condensed and dehydrated. Erythritol, a sugar alcohol with no calories, is added to the extract to make it look and taste more like sugar. Also, to reduce waste, the monk fruit's pulp and other residual materials are repurposed or composted and redistributed to local farms.

What Makes Lakanto Sweeteners Unmatched?

Lakanto monk fruit sweetener is exceptional for its sweetness, sustainability, and absence of negative health effects. They are the perfect sugar substitutes with no calories and a taste that’s even better than regular sugar. If you’ve been searching for a better sweetener, Papagino Foods has you covered by bringing Lakanto sweetener to Canada!

The unhealthy and excessive use of sugar in the Western world has led to various health problems, such as obesity and diabetes. Some companies have tried to develop better alternatives and sugar substitutes, but many fall short, lacking enough sweetness and adding strange tastes. 

Lakanto monk fruit sweeteners have managed to excel where other sweeteners have not, with no bizarre flavour and an unmatched sweetness that rivals even sugar. Depending on the concentration of the mogrosides, the sweeteners may be anywhere from 150-300 times sweeter than sugar without the negative health effects. In fact, in the many centuries this fruit has been used in Asian cultures, no harmful effects have been documented. This sweetener has the following benefits:

Unmatched sweetness

Helps manage blood sugar levels

It may help with weight loss

Zero net carbs and Zero-glycemic

• No calories: the mogroside compounds are sweeter and don’t get absorbed by the upper gastrointestinal tract
• No tooth decay: these sweeteners are not fermentable like sugar is, which leads to decay
• Lifestyle friendly: works with ketogenic, diabetic, candida, paleo, vegan, low-sugar, non-GMO, and all-natural diets

How to Use Lakanto Sweeteners: Less is More!

At Papagino’s, we carry three options of Lakanto sweetener in Canada: Lakanto Classic Monkfruit Sweetener,  Lakanto Golden Sweetener, and Lakanto Powdered Monkfruit Sweetener. These may be used as an alternative to sugar in baking, beverages, and cooking. However, you don’t need to use as much of it as you would sugar because of its high sweetness. Experimenting with different ratios will help you find the best one for your preferences.

The Golden Sweetener is a raw cane sugar replacement with a rich maple taste and a mogroside concentration of 30 percent, which is 150 times sweeter than sugar. It has a texture similar to cane sugar, and though it isn’t a true brown sugar replacement, it may be used as one. The Classic Sweetener is a white sugar alternative with a mogroside concentration of 50 percent–300 times sweeter than sugar. 

For baking, Lakanto sweeteners may be used to replace sugar in cookies, cakes, brownies, scones, cinnamon rolls, and any other sweet treats in a ratio of 1:1, but it is recommended to start slow with a ratio of 1:½ (1 cup sugar to ½ cup Lakanto sweetener). In recipes with more liquid ingredients, like jam or gummies, it is recommended to use a smaller ratio of 1:⅓. It is also important to use different ratios when substituting wet ingredients for dry ones in a way that doesn’t dry out the baked item.

Lakanto’s powdered sugar substitute is not much different from regular powdered sugar in sweetness, so you don’t need to modify the amount used in a recipe. This sugar substitute is perfect for making frostings, icings, cheesecakes, glazes, and as a topping.

Papagino Foods in Canada

At Papagino Foods, we are committed to providing Canadian creatives with the highest quality ingredients and supplies for baking. We bring various novelty products, including Lakanto sweeteners, to Canada. Check out our selection of Lakanto products for a sweeter, healthier, more sustainable alternative to sugar, whether you’re a baking hobbyist or pastry chef!