Tags: Food Products, Healthy Food and Drinks
By Anna Valmero
GLAN, SARANGANI— Even before reports reached the Philippines that America is going “loco over coco,” a Sarangani-based business is already producing and exporting coconut sweeteners for diabetics and health buffs.
SweetPalm International Corp. produces coconut-based sugar and syrup as a healthier and tastier alternative to refined sugar and honey, said Engineer Bernie Barnizo, the company’s vice president for operations.
The white sugar is powder-like in form and is almost comparable to white refined sugar but with more nutrients and low glycemic index, Barnizo added.
Four grams of the company’s coconut sugar has only 15 calories. It also has a low glycemic index rating of 35 versus 58 for honey.
According to the Food and Nutrition Institute, the glycemic index is a method of classifying food based on the glucose response of an individual to a food relative to a starchy food or to a standard glucose solution.
Foods with low glycemic index are recommended for proper control and management of diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases and weight maintenance because it can reduce blood glucose and insulin and improve overall blood glucose concentration.
“Coconut sugar is good for diabetics and those who are trying to lower their sugar levels because when you take a sweetener with lowglycemic index, it means that the body has lowered or no spike in insulin demand,” Barnizo explained.
Coconut sugar also includes significant amounts of certain nutrients. These include nitrogen (2,020 mg/1ppm), which helps treat cardiovascular diseases; potassium, (10,300 mg/1ppm) that reduces hypertension and controls cholesterol levels; chlorine, (4,700mg/1ppm) that corrects pressure of body fluids; and magnesium (290mg/1ppm), an antioxidant that fights free radicals.
The company has been certified by the Organic Certification Center of the Philippines and Ceres Certification of Environmental Standards GmbH so its production ensures that all the ingredients are 100 percent organic and the process uses oven convection to release excess moisture.
This process of removing excess moisture ensures the highest grade of coconut sugar is produced and complies to export requirements in Canada, the company’s major market abroad.
With the renewed interest for coconut products, Banizo hopes that more Filipinos would patronize coconut sugar and syrup as sweeteners because these are healthy and truly Filipino.
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Thanks Anna. Nice Article of promoting our products. Can you please send the photos above for me? I cannot directly copy or save those.
Best Regards,
Bernie