As part of its continuing policy to cater to the dietary trends of its customers, Spyridon Patisserie has announced a whole new line of diet and sugar-free products in addition to its regular offering of home made cakes, sweets and ice cream.

"For some time now we have received requests from customers about adding sugar-free products for either health or medical reasons," said Spyros Hatzakis, the shop's proprietor and top chef. "We spent some time researching special recipes and checking with experts in the field, and now we're ready to offer, what we feel, are the best dietary cakes, candy and ice cream."

For his famous ice cream, Spyros experimented with various sweeteners before deciding to use Isomalt, a sugar substitute and a sugar alcohol that is processed from real sugar made from beets.

"Unlike regular sucrose," he explained, "Isomalt does not tend to raise blood glucose levels and is considered safe for consumption by diabetics. However, I want to emphasize that a person with diabetes or other medical problems should always consult their doctor to make sure this sweetener is approved for his or her specific condition." 

In addition to several flavours of Isomalt-sweetened ice cream, Spyridon offers ice cream, and some other products, made with fructose, a natural sweetener found in fruits, vegetables and their juices, as well as honey.

Among these currently offered are strawberry panacotta, made with 0% milk, fructose and vegetable cream; vanilla panacotta, with 0% milk, fructose, vegetable cream, and natural vanilla, and raisin cake, with light margarine, pineapple juice, fructose, and raisins.

"This is just a start," Spyros stated. "We will be offering many more diet and sugar-free products in the coming months. And, we would appreciate our customers' opinions regarding these and other similar products."

 Spyros also pointed out that recently there has been much scientific research in the field of sweetening agents.

"More specifically, there have been numerous reports about the wonderful plant stevia which is said to be 300 times sweeter than cane sugar and can be cooked in up to 200 degrees Celsius," he said. "We, as confectioners, read all these new reports and act, and plan our special products accordingly."    

Readers wishing to contribute comments or suggestions should use the "visitors' comments" or "contact us" links on his web site.