he calorie-conscious can take heart with this bit of news. Now they can have their cake - or any other cooked sweet - and eat it too. Thanks to Alembic Industries' new sweetener, Zero Cook n Bake. It is a powder variant which can be added while cooking and baking a sweet dish. Other sweeteners available at present have to be added to the food, or dessert, only after it has been cooked.

Geogi E Zachariah, head of consumer healthcare at Alembic explains. "It can replace sugar spoon to spoon or, cup to cup and still can have the sweetness of sugar - without the calories." Alembic launched its zero-calorie sweetener (shaped like Nestl�'s Polo mint, complete with the hole too) early this year. In just under a year, claims the company, Zero has already achieved the targeted 10 per cent of the sweetener market.... more