Coca-Cola and Senomyx ‘milestone’ in discovery of low-sugar flavor

SAN DIEGO Ingredient company Senomyx received a payment from The Coca-Cola Company concerning a recent discovery it described last Tuesday as a milestone in flavor ingredients.

The two companies have been working together to find such a “promising new flavor ingredient” since their April 2002 collaborative, research, development, commercialization and license agreement, which was extended and expanded in April 2008. Though Coca-Cola would not comment and specific details are confidential, Senomyx reports that it has made significant process in developing a flavor ingredient that reduces sugar content while maintaining taste.

Senomyx uses proprietary taste receptor technologies to explore flavor ingredient possibilities for savory, sweet, salty, bitter and cooling tastes. The company has similar agreements with other major food and beverage companies like Campbell Soup Company, Cadbury, Nestle SA and Solae.