Horizon Science has won the Sugar Research and Development Corporation's 2009 Innovation Award. The selection criteria for this award are:

• An innovative solution to a complex problem that is transferable and outperforms current practice.
• The significance and magnitude of the benefit to the Australian sugarcane industry.
• The extent of teamwork and collaboration undertaken to achieve results.

Dr Frikkie Botha, Executive Director of SRDC stated:

“Horizon Science, took out the Innovation Award honour for their involvement in producing the world’s first all natural low glycemic index (GI) cane sugar.”

“The selection panel all agreed that the excellent industry collaboration and team work led by scientists Dr Barry Kitchen and Dr David Kannar, has resulted in an innovative alternative for consumers requiring low GI food products”, Dr Botha said.

The glycemic index (GI) is a way to rate carbohydrates according to how quickly they are absorbed and raise the glucose level of the blood.

Carbohydrates with a low GI (55 or less) make the body's blood glucose rise slowly and fall gently over a longer time, a positive benefit to health and a particular benefit to groups such as diabetics who need to regulate their blood glucose levels.

“The research group discovered by adding polyphenols back in to the sugar the glycemic index of sugar is reduced from 65 to 50. At this low GI value, sucrose becomes a truly low GI product.

“Although the new product has a significantly lower GI value the method used does not alter the sweetness and other function properties of ordinary sugar”, Dr Botha said.