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Foodtech start-up Sweet Victory has partnered with Givaudan to develop a flavourful botanical-infused chewing gum for children, designed to help reduce sugar intake. The company said that the "crave-stifling chewing gum works within two minutes by blocking the sugar receptors on the tongue," with its effect lasting up to two hours. Sweet Victory has already created a version for adults. The new sugar-free product features a tutti-frutti flavour. “The biggest challenge in developing this gum for kids was to create boldly fruit-flavoured chewing gum to overcome the bitterness of the herb gymnema,” said Shimrit Lev, co-founder of Sweet Victory. “In the gum designed for adults we used strong mint, but in the kid’s product we had to come up with other solutions.” Sweet Victory's co-founder, Gitit Lahav, added: “By producing a product so attractive to children that, regardless of its effect of blocking sweet taste, it can become a legitimate substitute for other sweets, simply because it's delicious. We turned to Givaudan to help us with that challenge. As a flavour expert, using advanced technologies, they helped us refine the product and develop a very flavourful, yet highly effective product – a sweet treat that can change eating behaviour and help parents control their kids’ daily sugar consumption.” Sweet Victory said that trials have been conducted on children in Israel, US and France, with results showing that they enjoyed the gum but could not eat sweet foods or beverages after, due to the change in their receptors. Although the product is still in the prototype stage, the company expects to launch the gum by the end of this year.