In the battle against childhood obesity a new food additive may be on the way that can preserve the sweetness of favorite treats while still reducing calories up to 25 percent.

Reb-C, as it's called, is a sweetness enhancer, not a sweetener in its own right. However, with its apparent ability to magnify the sweetness of foods, it may be easier to minimize the use of sugar, corn syrups, and other sweeteners while maintaining the same flavor loved by kids (and grown-ups!) around the world in their cereals and baked goods.

Reb-C is a derivative of the stevia plant, the same one that produces the "natural" sweetener of the same name that has recently gained public attention. In the quest to provide us with sweet foods that are somehow tasty, low-calorie, and "natural," stevia is the newest contender.

However, Reb-C and it's flavorful uses aren't limited to sugar and stevia itself. According to The Food Navigator in it's recent article on artificial sweeteners, Reb-C shows promising results when combined with sucralose and aspartame.

This means that when combined with Reb-C popular food items could rely less on artificial sweeteners altogether.

However, food distributors and manufacturers will still have to wait awhile before they can enhance the power of their sweets with Reb-C; it's still in the testing phase, and though it's creators are excited to get it on the market "very quickly" there's still a lot of work to be done before Americans will find Reb-C on their list of food ingredients at the market.

While it's only gotten somewhat easier to find gluten-free foods these days, those with Celiac Disease, or who avoid gluten for other reasons, may soon have good reason to be pleased.

Bean starch is on the way.

Okay, so bean starch may not sound like something to be ecstatic about, but if you've ever had a slice of gluten-free bread that tasted dry and crumbly, you'll understand more of why bean starch could be a big deal.

Gluten-free breads and pastries have been made in recent years with flours that can stand-in for wheat, including rice flour, soy flour, almond flour and potato flour. However, due to the chemical processes that gluten provides, gluten-free breads don't have the same taste as good ol' fashioned wheat breads.

As it says in the article by Food Navigator, gluten-free bread tends to exhibit poor crumb and crust characteristics as well as poor mouth feel and flavor.

In other words, it doesn't taste as good.

But with the addition of bean starch gluten-free, breads retain moisture levels that compare favorably with traditional breads.

Bean starch is already used to make asian-style noodles, and even a jelly. But for food manufacturers and distributors interested in a gluten-free line of products, including bean starch could be a smart way to boost quality while tapping into the billion dollar business of providing foods to those who don't or can't consumer gluten.