Sugar substitute
Encyclopedia
Food additive
Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance.Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickling , salting, as with bacon, preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxide as in some wines...
that duplicates the effect of sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
in taste
Taste
Taste is one of the traditional five senses. It refers to the ability to detect the flavor of substances such as food, certain minerals, and poisons, etc....
, usually with less food energy
Food energy
Food energy is the amount of energy obtained from food that is available through cellular respiration.Food energy is expressed in food calories or kilojoules...
. Some sugar substitutes are natural and some are synthetic. Those that are not natural are, in general, called artificial sweeteners.
An important class of sugar substitutes are known as high-intensity sweeteners. These are compounds with many times the sweetness of sucrose
Sucrose
Sucrose is the organic compound commonly known as table sugar and sometimes called saccharose. A white, odorless, crystalline powder with a sweet taste, it is best known for its role in human nutrition. The molecule is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose with the molecular formula...
, common table sugar. As a result, much less sweetener is required and energy contribution is often negligible
Negligible
Negligible refers to the quantities so small that they can be ignored when studying the larger effect. Although related to the more mathematical concepts of infinitesimal, the idea of negligibility is particularly useful in practical disciplines like physics, chemistry, mechanical and electronic...
. The sensation of sweetness caused by these compounds (the "sweetness profile") is sometimes notably different from sucrose, so they are often used in complex mixtures that achieve the most natural sweet sensation.
If the sucrose (or other sugar) that is replaced has contributed to the texture of the product, then a bulking agent is often also needed. This may be seen in soft drink
Soft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...
s that are labeled as "diet" or "light" and contain artificial sweeteners and often have notably different mouthfeel
Mouthfeel
Mouthfeel is a product's physical and chemical interaction in the mouth, an aspect of food rheology. It is a concept used in many areas related to the testing and evaluating of foodstuffs, such as wine-tasting and rheology. It is evaluated from initial perception on the palate, to first bite,...
, or in table sugar replacements that mix maltodextrin
Maltodextrin
Maltodextrin is a polysaccharide that is used as a food additive. It is produced from starch by partial hydrolysis and is usually found as a creamy-white hygroscopic spraydried powder. Maltodextrin is easily digestible, being absorbed as rapidly as glucose, and might be either moderately sweet or...
s with an intense sweetener to achieve satisfactory texture sensation.
In the United States, six intensely-sweet sugar substitutes have been approved for use. They are stevia
Stevia
Stevia is a genus of about 240 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family , native to subtropical and tropical regions from western North America to South America. The species Stevia rebaudiana, commonly known as sweetleaf, sweet leaf, sugarleaf, or simply stevia, is widely grown for its...
, aspartame
Aspartame
Aspartame is an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener used as a sugar substitute in some foods and beverages. In the European Union, it is codified as E951. Aspartame is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide. It was first sold under the brand name NutraSweet; since 2009 it...
, sucralose
Sucralose
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener. The majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body and therefore it is non-caloric. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number E955. Sucralose is approximately 600 times as sweet as sucrose , twice as sweet as saccharin, and 3.3...
, neotame
Neotame
Neotame is an artificial sweetener made by NutraSweet that is between 7,000 and 13,000 times sweeter than sucrose . In the European Union, it is known by the E number E961...
, acesulfame potassium
Acesulfame potassium
Acesulfame potassium is a calorie-free artificial sweetener, also known as Acesulfame K or Ace K , and marketed under the trade names Sunett and Sweet One. In the European Union, it is known under the E number E950...
, and saccharin
Saccharin
Saccharin is an artificial sweetener. The basic substance, benzoic sulfilimine, has effectively no food energy and is much sweeter than sucrose, but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations...
. There is some ongoing controversy over whether artificial sweetener usage poses health risks. The US Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
regulates artificial sweeteners as food additives. Food additives must be approved by the FDA, which publishes a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list of additives. To date, the FDA has not been presented with scientific information that would support a change in conclusions about the safety of these approved high-intensity sweeteners (with the exception of Stevia, which is exempt under FDA's GRAS policy due to its being a natural substance in wide use well before 1958, and has been approved by FDA). The safe conclusions are based on a detailed review of a large body of information, including hundreds of toxicological and clinical studies.
The majority of sugar substitutes approved for food use are artificially-synthesized compounds. However, some bulk natural sugar substitutes are known, including sorbitol
Sorbitol
Sorbitol, also known as glucitol, Sorbogem® and Sorbo®, is a sugar alcohol that the human body metabolizes slowly. It can be obtained by reduction of glucose, changing the aldehyde group to a hydroxyl group. Sorbitol is found in apples, pears, peaches, and prunes...
and xylitol
Xylitol
Xylitol is a sugar alcohol sweetener used as a naturally occurring sugar substitute. It is found in the fibers of many fruits and vegetables, and can be extracted from various berries, oats, and mushrooms, as well as fibrous material such as corn husks and sugar cane bagasse, and birch...
, which are found in berries
Berry
The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....
, fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
, vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s, and mushroom
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
s. It is not commercially viable to extract these products from fruits and vegetables, so they are produced by catalytic hydrogenation
Hydrogenation
Hydrogenation, to treat with hydrogen, also a form of chemical reduction, is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst. The process is commonly employed to reduce or saturate organic compounds. Hydrogenation typically...
of the appropriate reducing sugar. For example, xylose
Xylose
Xylose is a sugar first isolated from wood, and named for it. Xylose is classified as a monosaccharide of the aldopentose type, which means that it contains five carbon atoms and includes an aldehyde functional group. It is the precursor to hemicellulose, one of the main constituents of biomass...
is converted to xylitol, lactose
Lactose
Lactose is a disaccharide sugar that is found most notably in milk and is formed from galactose and glucose. Lactose makes up around 2~8% of milk , although the amount varies among species and individuals. It is extracted from sweet or sour whey. The name comes from or , the Latin word for milk,...
to lactitol
Lactitol
Lactitol is a sugar alcohol used as a replacement bulk sweetener for low calorie foods with approximately 40% of the sweetness of sugar. Lactitol is produced by two manufacturers, Danisco and Purac Biochem.-Applications:...
, and glucose
Glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar and an important carbohydrate in biology. Cells use it as the primary source of energy and a metabolic intermediate...
to sorbitol. Other natural substitutes are known, but are yet to gain official approval for food use.
Some non-sugar sweeteners are polyol
Polyol
A polyol is an alcohol containing multiple hydroxyl groups. In two technological disciplines the term "polyol" has a special meaning: food science and polymer chemistry.- Polyols in food science :...
s, also known as "sugar alcohol
Sugar alcohol
A sugar alcohol is a hydrogenated form of carbohydrate, whose carbonyl group has been reduced to a primary or secondary hydroxyl group . Sugar alcohols have the general formula Hn+1H, whereas sugars have HnHCO...
s." These are, in general, less sweet than sucrose but have similar bulk properties and can be used in a wide range of food products. Sometimes the sweetness profile is 'fine-tuned' by mixing with high-intensity sweeteners. As with all food products, the development of a formulation to replace sucrose is a complex proprietary process.
Reasons for use
Sugar substitutes are used for a number of reasons, including:- To assist in weight lossWeight lossWeight loss, in the context of medicine, health or physical fitness, is a reduction of the total body mass, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue...
— some people choose to limit their food energy intake by replacing high-energy sugar or corn syrup with other sweeteners having little or no food energyFood energyFood energy is the amount of energy obtained from food that is available through cellular respiration.Food energy is expressed in food calories or kilojoules...
. This allows them to eat the same foods they normally would, while allowing them to lose weight and avoid other problems associated with excessive caloric intake. - Dental careDental careDental care is the maintenance of healthy teeth. Forms include:* Oral hygiene, the practice of keeping the mouth and teeth clean in order to prevent cavities , gum disease, and other dental disorders....
— sugar substitutes are tooth-friendly, as they are not fermented by the microflora of the dental plaque. An example of a sweetener that can benefit dental health is xylitolXylitolXylitol is a sugar alcohol sweetener used as a naturally occurring sugar substitute. It is found in the fibers of many fruits and vegetables, and can be extracted from various berries, oats, and mushrooms, as well as fibrous material such as corn husks and sugar cane bagasse, and birch...
. Xylitol works to prevent bacteria from adhering to the tooth surface, thus preventing plaque formation and eventually decay. The carbohydrates and sugars consumed usually adheres to the tooth enamel. Bacteria can feed upon this food source allowing them to quickly multiply. As the bacteria feed upon the sugar, they convert it to acid waste that in turn decays the tooth structure. Xylitol cannot be fermented by these bacteria, so the bacteria have difficulty thriving, thus helping to prevent plaque formation. - Diabetes mellitusDiabetes mellitusDiabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced...
— people with diabetes have difficulty regulating their blood sugarBlood sugarThe blood sugar concentration or blood glucose level is the amount of glucose present in the blood of a human or animal. Normally in mammals, the body maintains the blood glucose level at a reference range between about 3.6 and 5.8 mM , or 64.8 and 104.4 mg/dL...
levels. By limiting their sugar intake with artificial sweeteners, they can enjoy a varied diet while closely controlling their sugar intake. Also, some sugar substitutes do release energy, but are metabolized more slowly, allowing blood sugar levels to remain more stable over time. - Reactive hypoglycemiaReactive hypoglycemiaReactive hypoglycemia, or postprandial hypoglycemia, is a medical term describing recurrent episodes of symptomatic hypoglycemia occurring within 4 hours after a high carbohydrate meal in people who do not have diabetes...
— individuals with reactive hypoglycemia will produce an excess of insulin after quickly absorbing glucose into the bloodstream. This causes their blood glucose levels to fall below the amount needed for proper body and brain function. As a result, like diabetics, they must avoid intake of high-glycemic foods like white bread, and often choose artificial sweeteners as an alternative. - Avoiding processed foods — individuals may opt to substitute refined white sugar with less-processed sugars, such as fruit juice or maple syrup. (See List of unrefined sweeteners).
- Cost — many sugar substitutes are cheaper than sugar. Alternative sweeteners are often low in cost because of their long shelf-life. This allows alternative sweeteners to be used in products that will not perish after a short period of time.
Weight gain and insulin response to artificial sweeteners
Animal studies have indicated that a sweet taste induces an insulin response in rats. However, the extension of animal model findings to humans is unclear, as human studies of intragastric infusion of sucraloseSucralose
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener. The majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body and therefore it is non-caloric. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number E955. Sucralose is approximately 600 times as sweet as sucrose , twice as sweet as saccharin, and 3.3...
have shown no insulin response from analogous taste receptors. The release of insulin
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle....
causes blood sugar to be stored in tissues (including fat). In the case of a response to artificial sweeteners, because blood sugar does not increase there can be increased hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia or hypoglycæmia is the medical term for a state produced by a lower than normal level of blood glucose. The term literally means "under-sweet blood"...
or hyperinsulinemia
Hyperinsulinemia
Hyperinsulinemia, or hyperinsulinaemiais a condition which there is excess levels of insulin circulating in the blood than expected relative to the level of glucose. While it is often mistaken for diabetes or hypoglycaemia, hyperinsulinemia can result from a variety of metabolic diseases and...
and increased food intake the next time there is a meal. Rats given sweeteners have steadily increased calorie intake, increased body weight, and increased adiposity (fatness). Furthermore, the natural responses to eating sugary foods (eating less at the next meal and using some of the extra calories to warm the body after the sugary meal) are gradually lost.
A 2005 study by the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio showed that increased weight gain and obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
were associated with increased use of diet soda in a population based study. The study did not establish whether increased weight gain leads to increased consumption of diet drinks or whether consumption of diet drinks could have an effect on weight gain.
Food industry usage of artificial sweeteners
The food and beverage industry is increasingly replacing sugar or corn syrupCorn syrup
Corn syrup is a food syrup, which is made from the starch of maize and contains varying amounts of maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften texture, add volume, prevent crystallization of sugar, and enhance flavor...
with artificial sweeteners in a range of products traditionally containing sugar.
According to market analysts Mintel
Mintel
Mintel Group Ltd is a privately owned, London-based market research firm. The corporation also maintains offices in Chicago, New York, Belfast, Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney...
, a total of 3,920 products containing artificial sweeteners were launched in the U.S. between 2000 and 2005. In 2004 alone, 1,649 artificially-sweetened products were launched. According to market analysts Freedonia, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artificial sweetener market is set to grow at around 8.3% per year to $189 million in 2008.
Aspartame is currently the most popular artificial sweetener in the U.S. food industry, as the price has dropped significantly since the Monsanto Company patent expired in 1992. However, sucralose may soon replace it, as alternative processes to Tate & Lyle
Tate & Lyle
Tate & Lyle plc is a British-based multinational agribusiness. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index as of 20 June 2011...
's patent seem to be emerging. According to Morgan Stanley, this can mean that the price of sucralose will drop by thirty percent.
Alternative sweeteners are highly consumed in America. According to research studies explained by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, in 2003-2004, Americans two years or age and older consumed 585g per day of beverages and 375g per day of foods with caloric sweeteners. More than 66% of Americans consumed these beverages with alternative sweeteners and 90.3% of Americans consumed foods with added caloric sweeteners. On the other hand, 10.8% of Americans in 2003-2004 consumed non-caloric alternative sweetener flavored beverages and 5.8% consumed non-caloric alternative sweetener flavored foods.
Some commonly consumed foods with alternative sweeteners are diet sodas, cereals, and sugar-free desserts such as ice cream. Alternative sweeteners are found in many products today due to their low or non-caloric characteristics. This can be used as a method of advertisement for dieters or those conscious of their sugar intake. Those with diabetes can greatly benefit from alternative sweeteners that do not affect their blood sugar levels drastically. This aids in maintaining low insulin use in the body and blood sugar levels. Alternative sweeteners such as xylitol and saccharin have many positive research results that show qualities of dental decay prevention.
Aspartame
Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter at the G.D. Searle company (later purchased by Monsanto). He was working on an anti-ulcer drug and accidentally spilled some aspartame on his hand. When he licked his finger, he noticed that it had a sweet taste. It is an odorless, white crystalline powder that is derived from the two amino acids aspartic acidAspartic acid
Aspartic acid is an α-amino acid with the chemical formula HOOCCHCH2COOH. The carboxylate anion, salt, or ester of aspartic acid is known as aspartate. The L-isomer of aspartate is one of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids, i.e., the building blocks of proteins...
and phenylalanine
Phenylalanine
Phenylalanine is an α-amino acid with the formula C6H5CH2CHCOOH. This essential amino acid is classified as nonpolar because of the hydrophobic nature of the benzyl side chain. L-Phenylalanine is an electrically neutral amino acid, one of the twenty common amino acids used to biochemically form...
. It is about 200 times as sweet as sugar and can be used as a tabletop sweetener or in frozen desserts, gelatins, beverages, and chewing gum
Chewing gum
Chewing gum is a type of gum traditionally made of chicle, a natural latex product, or synthetic rubber known as polyisobutylene. For economical and quality reasons, many modern chewing gums use rubber instead of chicle...
. When cooked or stored at high temperatures, aspartame breaks down into its constituent amino acids. This makes aspartame undesirable as a baking sweetener. It is more stable in somewhat acidic conditions, such as in soft drinks. Though it does not have a bitter aftertaste like saccharin, it may not taste exactly like sugar. When eaten, aspartame is metabolized into its original amino acid
Amino acid
Amino acids are molecules containing an amine group, a carboxylic acid group and a side-chain that varies between different amino acids. The key elements of an amino acid are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen...
s. It has the same food energy
Food energy
Food energy is the amount of energy obtained from food that is available through cellular respiration.Food energy is expressed in food calories or kilojoules...
as proteins, but because it is so intensely sweet, relatively little of it is needed to sweeten a food product, and is thus useful for reducing the number of calories in a product.
The safety of aspartame has been studied extensively since its discovery with research that includes animal studies, clinical and epidemiological research, and post-marketing surveillance, with aspartame being one of the most rigorously tested food ingredients to date. Aspartame has been subject to multiple claims against its safety, including supposed links to cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
as well as complaints of neurological or psychiatric side effects. Multiple peer-reviewed comprehensive review articles and independent reviews by governmental regulatory bodies have analyzed the published research on the safety of aspartame and have found aspartame is safe for consumption at current levels. Aspartame has been deemed safe for human consumption by over 100 regulatory agencies in their respective countries, including the UK Food Standards Agency
Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food throughout the United Kingdom and is led by a board appointed to act in the public interest...
, the European Food Safety Authority
European Food Safety Authority
The European Food Safety Authority is an agency of the European Union that provides independent scientific advice and communication on existing and emerging risks associated with the food chain, created by European Regulation 178/2002....
(EFSA) and Canada's Health Canada
Health Canada
Health Canada is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for national public health.The current Minister of Health is Leona Aglukkaq, a Conservative Member of Parliament appointed to the position by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.-Branches, regions and agencies:Health Canada...
.
Cyclamate
In the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the sale of cyclamate
Cyclamate
Sodium cyclamate is an artificial sweetener. It is 30–50 times sweeter than sugar , making it the least potent of the commercially used artificial sweeteners. Some people find it to have an unpleasant aftertaste, but, in general, less so than saccharin or acesulfame potassium...
in 1970 after lab tests in rats involving a 10:1 mixture of cyclamate and saccharin indicated that large amounts of cyclamates causes bladder
Urinary bladder
The urinary bladder is the organ that collects urine excreted by the kidneys before disposal by urination. A hollow muscular, and distensible organ, the bladder sits on the pelvic floor...
cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, a disease to which rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s are particularly susceptible. Cyclamates are still used as sweeteners in many parts of the world, including Europe.
Saccharin
Aside from sugar of lead, saccharinSaccharin
Saccharin is an artificial sweetener. The basic substance, benzoic sulfilimine, has effectively no food energy and is much sweeter than sucrose, but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations...
was the first artificial sweetener and was originally synthesized in 1879 by Remsen and Fahlberg. Its sweet taste was discovered by accident. It had been created in an experiment with toluene derivatives. A process for the creation of saccharin from phthalic anhydride
Phthalic anhydride
Phthalic anhydride is the organic compound with the formula C6H42O. It is the anhydride of phthalic acid. This colourless solid is an important industrial chemical, especially for the large-scale production of plasticizers for plastics. In 2002, approximately 4.6 billion kilograms were...
was developed in 1950, and, currently, saccharin is created by this process as well as the original process by which it was discovered. It is 300 to 500 times as sweet as sugar (sucrose) and is often used to improve the taste of toothpastes, dietary foods, and dietary beverages. The bitter aftertaste of saccharin is often minimized by blending it with other sweeteners.
Fear about saccharin increased when a 1960 study showed that high levels of saccharin may cause bladder cancer
Bladder cancer
Bladder cancer is any of several types of malignant growths of the urinary bladder. It is a disease in which abnormal cells multiply without control in the bladder. The bladder is a hollow, muscular organ that stores urine; it is located in the pelvis...
in laboratory rats. In 1977, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
banned saccharin due to the animal research. In the United States, the FDA considered banning saccharin in 1977, but Congress stepped in and placed a moratorium on such a ban. The moratorium required a warning label and also mandated further study of saccharin safety.
Subsequently, it was discovered that saccharin causes cancer in male rats by a mechanism not found in humans. At high doses, saccharin causes a precipitate to form in rat urine. This precipitate damages the cells lining the bladder (urinary bladder urothelial cytotoxicity) and a tumor
Tumor
A tumor or tumour is commonly used as a synonym for a neoplasm that appears enlarged in size. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer...
forms when the cells regenerate (regenerative hyperplasia). According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer
International Agency for Research on Cancer
The International Agency for Research on Cancer is an intergovernmental agency forming part of the World Health Organisation of the United Nations....
, part of the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
, "Saccharin and its salts was (sic) downgraded from Group 2B, possibly carcinogenic to humans, to Group 3, not classifiable as to carcinogenicity to humans, despite sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity to animals, because it is carcinogenic by a non-DNA-reactive mechanism that is not relevant to humans because of critical interspecies differences in urine composition."
In 2001 the United States repealed the warning label requirement, while the threat of an FDA ban had already been lifted in 1991. Most other countries also permit saccharin, but restrict the levels of use, while other countries have outright banned it.
The EPA has officially removed saccharin and its salts from their list of hazardous constituents and commercial chemical products. In a December 14, 2010 release the EPA stated that saccharin is no longer considered a potential hazard to human health.
Stevia
Used as a natural sweetener, the herbal supplement Stevia has been widely used for centuries in South America as well as in Japan, which was first commercially by Morita, as a natural sweetener since 1970. Due to its unique characteristics of zero glycemic indexGlycemic index
The glycemic index, glycaemic index, or GI is a measure of the effects of carbohydrates on blood sugar levels. Carbohydrates that break down quickly during digestion and release glucose rapidly into the bloodstream have a high GI; carbohydrates that break down more slowly, releasing glucose more...
and zero calories, it is fast becoming popular in many other countries. In 1987, the FDA issued a ban on stevia because it had not been approved as a food additive. After being repeatedly provided with a significant amount of scientific data proving that there was no side effect of using stevia as a sweetener from companies such as Cargill and Coca-Cola, the FDA gave a "no objection" approval for GRAS
Generally recognized as safe
Generally recognized as safe is an American Food and Drug Administration designation that a chemical or substance added to food is considered safe by experts, and so is exempted from the usual Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act food additive tolerance requirements.-History:On January 1, 1958,...
status to Truvia
Truvia
Truvia is a stevia-based sugar substitute developed jointly by Coca-Cola and Cargill. It is currently distributed and marketed by Cargill as a tabletop sweetener and as a food ingredient. Because it comes from the stevia plant, Cargill classifies it as a natural sweetener in addition to being a...
in December 2008. Truvia is a blend of rebiana
Rebiana
Rebiana is the trade name for high-purity rebaudioside A, a Steviol glycoside which when used as a non-nutritive sweetener is 200 times sweeter than sugar. It is the primary source of sweetness in the Truvia sweetener brand. Rebiana is derived from Stevia leaves by steeping them in water. ...
and erythritol
Erythritol
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that has been approved for use as a food additive in the United States and throughout much of the world. It was discovered in 1848 by British chemist John Stenhouse. It occurs naturally in some fruits and fermented foods...
(developed by Cargill
Cargill
Cargill, Incorporated is a privately held, multinational corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Founded in 1865, it is now the largest privately held corporation in the United States in terms of revenue. If it were a public company, it would rank, as of 2011, number 13 on the Fortune 500,...
and The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Columbus, Georgia...
) and PureVia (developed by PepsiCo
PepsiCo
PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
and the Whole Earth Sweetener Company, a subsidiary of Merisant
Merisant
Merisant Company is a United States manufacturer of artificial sweeteners, including Equal and Canderel.The company was formed from Monsanto Company's tabletop sweetener business, which was acquired by a group of investors in 2000....
), both of which use rebaudioside A derived from the Stevia plant.
Sucralose
SucraloseSucralose
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener. The majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body and therefore it is non-caloric. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number E955. Sucralose is approximately 600 times as sweet as sucrose , twice as sweet as saccharin, and 3.3...
is a chlorinated sugar that is about 600 times as sweet as sugar. It is produced from sucrose when three chlorine atoms replace three hydroxyl groups. It is used in beverages, frozen desserts, chewing gum, baked goods, and other foods. Unlike other artificial sweeteners, it is stable when heated and can therefore be used in baked and fried goods. About 15% of sucralose is absorbed by the body and most of it passes out of the body unchanged. The FDA approved sucralose in 1998.
Most of the controversy surrounding Splenda
Splenda
Splenda is the commercial name and registered trade mark of a sucralose-based artificial sweetener derived from sugar, owned by the British company Tate & Lyle. Sucralose was discovered by Tate & Lyle and researchers at Queen Elizabeth College, University of London, in 1976...
, a sucralose sweetener, is focused not on safety, but on its marketing. It has been marketed with the slogan, "Splenda is made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar." Sucralose is a chlorinated sugar prepared from either sucrose or raffinose
Raffinose
Raffinose is a trisaccharide composed of galactose, fructose, and glucose. It can be found in beans, cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, other vegetables, and whole grains. Raffinose can be hydrolyzed to D-galactose and sucrose by the enzyme α-galactosidase , an enzyme not found in the...
. With either base sugar, processing replaces three oxygen-hydrogen groups in the sugar molecule with three chlorine atoms.
The "Truth About Splenda" website was created in 2005 by The Sugar Association, an organization representing sugar beet and sugar cane farmers in the United States, to provide its view of sucralose. In December 2004, five separate false-advertising claims were filed by the Sugar Association against Splenda manufacturers Merisant and McNeil Nutritionals for claims made about Splenda related to the slogan, "Made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar". French courts ordered the slogan to no longer be used in France, while in the U.S. the case came to an undisclosed settlement during the trial.
Safety concerns pertaining to sucralose revolve around the fact that it belongs to a class of chemicals called organochloride
Organochloride
An organochloride, organochlorine, chlorocarbon, chlorinated hydrocarbon, or chlorinated solvent is an organic compound containing at least one covalently bonded chlorine atom. Their wide structural variety and divergent chemical properties lead to a broad range of applications...
s, some types of which are toxic or carcinogen
Carcinogen
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes...
ic; however, the presence of chlorine in an organic compound does not in any way ensure toxicity. The way sucralose is metabolized
Metabolism
Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in the cells of living organisms to sustain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into two categories...
may suggest a reduced risk of toxicity. For example, sucralose is extremely insoluble in fat and thus does not accumulate in fat as do some other organochlorides; sucralose also does not break down and will dechlorinate only under conditions that are not found during regular digestion (i.e. high heat applied to the powder form of the molecule).
Lead acetate (historic)
Lead acetateLead(II) acetate
Lead acetate , also known as lead acetate, lead diacetate, plumbous acetate, sugar of lead, lead sugar, salt of Saturn, and Goulard's powder, is a white crystalline chemical compound with a sweetish taste. It is made by treating lead oxide with acetic acid. Like other lead compounds, it is toxic...
(sometimes called sugar of lead) is an artificial sugar substitute made from lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
that is of historical interest because of its widespread use in the past, such as by ancient Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. The use of lead acetate as a sweetener eventually produced lead poisoning
Lead poisoning
Lead poisoning is a medical condition caused by increased levels of the heavy metal lead in the body. Lead interferes with a variety of body processes and is toxic to many organs and tissues including the heart, bones, intestines, kidneys, and reproductive and nervous systems...
in any individual ingesting it habitually. Lead acetate was abandoned as a food additive throughout most of the world after the high toxicity of lead compounds became apparent.
List of sugar substitutes and their equivalent sweetness to sugar
The three primary compoundsChemical compound
A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...
used as sugar substitutes in the United States are saccharin
Saccharin
Saccharin is an artificial sweetener. The basic substance, benzoic sulfilimine, has effectively no food energy and is much sweeter than sucrose, but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations...
(e.g., Sweet'N Low), aspartame
Aspartame
Aspartame is an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener used as a sugar substitute in some foods and beverages. In the European Union, it is codified as E951. Aspartame is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide. It was first sold under the brand name NutraSweet; since 2009 it...
(e.g., Equal, NutraSweet) and sucralose
Sucralose
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener. The majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body and therefore it is non-caloric. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number E955. Sucralose is approximately 600 times as sweet as sucrose , twice as sweet as saccharin, and 3.3...
(e.g., Splenda, Altern). Maltitol
Maltitol
Maltitol is a sugar alcohol used as a sugar substitute. It has 75-90% of the sweetness of sucrose and nearly identical properties, except for browning. It is used to replace table sugar because it has fewer calories, does not promote tooth decay, and has a somewhat lesser effect on blood glucose...
and sorbitol
Sorbitol
Sorbitol, also known as glucitol, Sorbogem® and Sorbo®, is a sugar alcohol that the human body metabolizes slowly. It can be obtained by reduction of glucose, changing the aldehyde group to a hydroxyl group. Sorbitol is found in apples, pears, peaches, and prunes...
are often used, frequently in toothpaste, mouth wash, and in foods such as "no sugar added" ice cream. Erythritol
Erythritol
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that has been approved for use as a food additive in the United States and throughout much of the world. It was discovered in 1848 by British chemist John Stenhouse. It occurs naturally in some fruits and fermented foods...
is gaining momentum as a replacement for these other sugar alcohols in foods as it is much less likely to produce gastrointestinal distress when consumed in large amounts. In many other countries xylitol
Xylitol
Xylitol is a sugar alcohol sweetener used as a naturally occurring sugar substitute. It is found in the fibers of many fruits and vegetables, and can be extracted from various berries, oats, and mushrooms, as well as fibrous material such as corn husks and sugar cane bagasse, and birch...
, cyclamate
Cyclamate
Sodium cyclamate is an artificial sweetener. It is 30–50 times sweeter than sugar , making it the least potent of the commercially used artificial sweeteners. Some people find it to have an unpleasant aftertaste, but, in general, less so than saccharin or acesulfame potassium...
and the herbal sweetener stevia
Stevia
Stevia is a genus of about 240 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family , native to subtropical and tropical regions from western North America to South America. The species Stevia rebaudiana, commonly known as sweetleaf, sweet leaf, sugarleaf, or simply stevia, is widely grown for its...
are used extensively.
Natural sugar substitutes
The sweetnesses and energy densities are in comparison to those of sucroseSucrose
Sucrose is the organic compound commonly known as table sugar and sometimes called saccharose. A white, odorless, crystalline powder with a sweet taste, it is best known for its role in human nutrition. The molecule is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose with the molecular formula...
.
| Name | Sweetness by weight | Sweetness by food energy | Energy density | | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazzein Brazzein Brazzein is a sweet-tasting protein extracted from the West African fruit of the climbing plant Oubli . It was first isolated as an enzyme by University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1994.... |
800 | Protein | |||
| Curculin Curculin Curculin is a sweet protein that was discovered and isolated in 1990 from the fruit of Curculigo latifolia , a plant from Malaysia. Like miraculin, curculin exhibits taste-modifying activity; however, unlike miraculin, it also exhibits a sweet taste by itself. After consumption of curculin, water... |
550 | Protein | |||
| Erythritol Erythritol Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that has been approved for use as a food additive in the United States and throughout much of the world. It was discovered in 1848 by British chemist John Stenhouse. It occurs naturally in some fruits and fermented foods... |
0.7 | 14 | 0.05 | ||
| Glycyrrhizin Glycyrrhizin Glycyrrhizin is the main sweet-tasting compound from liquorice root. It is 30–50 times as sweet as sucrose . Pure glycyrrhizin is odorless.... |
50 | ||||
| Glycerol Glycerol Glycerol is a simple polyol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is widely used in pharmaceutical formulations. Glycerol has three hydroxyl groups that are responsible for its solubility in water and its hygroscopic nature. The glycerol backbone is central to all lipids... |
0.6 | 0.55 | 1.075 | E422 | |
| Hydrogenated starch hydrolysates | 0.4–0.9 | 0.5×–1.2 | 0.75 | ||
| Inulin Inulin Inulins are a group of naturally occurring polysaccharides produced by many types of plants. They belong to a class of fibers known as fructans. Inulin is used by some plants as a means of storing energy and is typically found in roots or rhizomes... |
|||||
| Isomalt Isomalt Isomalt is a sugar substitute, a type of sugar alcohol, used primarily for its sugar-like physical properties. It has only a small impact on blood sugar levels and does not promote tooth decay. It has 2 kilocalories/g, half the calories of sugars... |
0.45–0.65 | 0.9–1.3 | 0.5 | E953 | |
| Lactitol Lactitol Lactitol is a sugar alcohol used as a replacement bulk sweetener for low calorie foods with approximately 40% of the sweetness of sugar. Lactitol is produced by two manufacturers, Danisco and Purac Biochem.-Applications:... |
0.4 | 0.8 | 0.5 | E966 | |
| Luo han guo | 300 | ||||
| Mabinlin Mabinlin Mabinlins are sweet-tasting proteins extracted from the seed of Mabinlang , a Chinese plant growing in Yunnan province. There are four homologues. Mabinlin-2 was first isolated in 1983 and characterised in 1993, and is the most extensively studied of the four... |
100 | Protein | |||
| Maltitol Maltitol Maltitol is a sugar alcohol used as a sugar substitute. It has 75-90% of the sweetness of sucrose and nearly identical properties, except for browning. It is used to replace table sugar because it has fewer calories, does not promote tooth decay, and has a somewhat lesser effect on blood glucose... |
0.9 | 1.7 | 0.525 | E965 | |
| Malto-oligosaccharide | |||||
| Mannitol Mannitol Mannitol is a white, crystalline organic compound with the formula . This polyol is used as an osmotic diuretic agent and a weak renal vasodilator... |
0.5 | 1.2 | 0.4 | E421 | |
| Miraculin Miraculin Miraculin is a natural sugar substitute, a glycoprotein extracted from the fruit of Synsepalum dulcificum. The berry, which contains active polyphenols, was first documented by explorer Chevalier des Marchais, who searched for many different fruits during a 1725 excursion to its native West... |
A protein that does not taste sweet by itself, but modifies taste receptors to make sour things taste sweet temporarily | ||||
| Monatin Monatin Monatin is a naturally occurring, high intensity sweetener isolated from the plant Sclerochiton ilicifolius, found in the Transvaal region of South Africa. Monatin contains no carbohydrate or sugar, and nearly no food energy, unlike sucrose or other nutritive sweeteners.... |
Naturally-occurring sweetener isolated from the plant Sclerochiton ilicifolius | ||||
| Monellin Monellin Monellin is a sweet protein which was discovered in 1969 in the fruit of the West African shrub known as serendipity berry , it was first reported as a carbohydrate... |
3,000 | Protein; the sweetening ingredient in serendipity berries Serendipity berry Dioscoreophyllum volkensii , is a tropical dioecious rainforest vine in the family Menispermaceae. It is native throughout most of tropical Africa from Sierra Leone east to Eritrea, and south to Angola and Mozambique. It occurs at low altitudes, from sea level up to 400 m; some authors separate... |
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| Osladin Osladin Osladine is a naturally occurring, high-intensity sweetener isolated from the rhizome of Polypodium vulgare. It is a saponin, sapogenin steroid glycoside, 500 times sweeter than sucrose.... |
|||||
| Pentadin Pentadin Pentadin, a sweet-tasting protein, was discovered and isolated in 1989, in the fruit of Oubli , a climbing shrub growing in some tropical countries of Africa.... |
500 | Protein | |||
| Sorbitol Sorbitol Sorbitol, also known as glucitol, Sorbogem® and Sorbo®, is a sugar alcohol that the human body metabolizes slowly. It can be obtained by reduction of glucose, changing the aldehyde group to a hydroxyl group. Sorbitol is found in apples, pears, peaches, and prunes... |
0.6 | 0.9 | 0.65 | E420 | |
| Stevia Stevia Stevia is a genus of about 240 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family , native to subtropical and tropical regions from western North America to South America. The species Stevia rebaudiana, commonly known as sweetleaf, sweet leaf, sugarleaf, or simply stevia, is widely grown for its... |
250 | Extracts known as rebiana, Truvia Truvia Truvia is a stevia-based sugar substitute developed jointly by Coca-Cola and Cargill. It is currently distributed and marketed by Cargill as a tabletop sweetener and as a food ingredient. Because it comes from the stevia plant, Cargill classifies it as a natural sweetener in addition to being a... , PureVia; mainly containing rebaudioside A, a steviol glycoside Steviol glycoside The steviol glycosides are responsible for the sweet taste of the leaves of the stevia plant .These compounds range in sweetness from 40 to 300 times sweeter than sucrose.They are heat-stable, pH-stable, and do not ferment... |
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| Tagatose Tagatose Tagatose is a functional sweetener. It is a naturally occurring monosaccharide, specifically a hexose. It is often found in dairy products, and is very similar in texture to sucrose and is 92% as sweet, but with only 38% of the calories.... |
0.92 | 2.4 | 0.38 | ||
| Thaumatin Thaumatin Thaumatin is a low-calorie sweetener and flavour modifier. The substance, a natural protein, is often used primarily for its flavour-modifying properties and not exclusively as a sweetener.... |
2,000 | Protein; E957 | |||
| Xylitol Xylitol Xylitol is a sugar alcohol sweetener used as a naturally occurring sugar substitute. It is found in the fibers of many fruits and vegetables, and can be extracted from various berries, oats, and mushrooms, as well as fibrous material such as corn husks and sugar cane bagasse, and birch... |
1.0 | 1.7 | 0.6 | E967 |
Artificial sugar substitutes
Note that because many of these have little or no food energy, comparison of sweetness based on energy content is not meaningful.| Name | Sweetness (by weight) | Trade name | FDA approval | | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acesulfame potassium Acesulfame potassium Acesulfame potassium is a calorie-free artificial sweetener, also known as Acesulfame K or Ace K , and marketed under the trade names Sunett and Sweet One. In the European Union, it is known under the E number E950... |
200 | Nutrinova Nutrinova Nutrinova is a global manufacturer of food constituents. It was formerly known as Hoechst until 1997 when it was taken over by Celanese and adopted its current name.The company is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. It is a wholly owned affiliate of Celanese.... |
1988 | E950 | |
| Alitame Alitame Alitame is an artificial sweetener developed by Pfizer in the early 1980s and currently marketed in some countries under the brand name Aclame. Like aspartame, alitame is an aspartic acid-containing dipeptide. Most dipeptides are not sweet, but the unexpected discovery of aspartame in 1965 led to... |
2,000 | (Pending) | Pfizer Pfizer Pfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The company is based in New York City, New York with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States... |
||
| Aspartame Aspartame Aspartame is an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener used as a sugar substitute in some foods and beverages. In the European Union, it is codified as E951. Aspartame is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide. It was first sold under the brand name NutraSweet; since 2009 it... |
160–200 | NutraSweet NutraSweet The NutraSweet Company makes and sells NutraSweet, their trademarked brand name for the artificial sweetener aspartame, and Neotame.Aspartame was accidentally discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter, a chemist with a master's degree working under Dr. Kurt Rorig, PhD, in charge of new drug research... , Equal Equal (sweetener) Equal is a brand of artificial sweetener containing aspartame, dextrose and maltodextrin. It is marketed as a tabletop sweetener by Merisant, a global corporation which also owns the well-known NutraSweet brand and which has headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, Switzerland, Mexico, and Australia... |
1981 | E951 | |
| Salt of aspartame-acesulfame | 350 | Twinsweet | E962 | ||
| Cyclamate Cyclamate Sodium cyclamate is an artificial sweetener. It is 30–50 times sweeter than sugar , making it the least potent of the commercially used artificial sweeteners. Some people find it to have an unpleasant aftertaste, but, in general, less so than saccharin or acesulfame potassium... |
30 | (Banned 1969) | E952, Abbott | ||
| Dulcin Dulcin Dulcin is an artificial sweetener about 250 times sweeter than sugar discovered in 1884 by Joseph Berlinerbau. It was first mass-produced about seven years later. Despite the fact that it was discovered only five years after saccharin, it never enjoyed the latter compound’s market success... |
250 | (Banned 1950) | |||
| Glucin Glucin Glucin is the name of an artificial sweetening agent similar to saccharin that was used in the early 20th century. The substance is a sodium salt derived from coal tar. It is composed of a mixture of mono- and di-sulfonic acids with a chemical formula of C19H16N4. It typically appears as a light... |
300 | ||||
| Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone, sometimes abbreviated to neohesperidin DC or simply NHDC, is an artificial sweetener derived from citrus.... |
1,500 | E959 | |||
| Neotame Neotame Neotame is an artificial sweetener made by NutraSweet that is between 7,000 and 13,000 times sweeter than sucrose . In the European Union, it is known by the E number E961... |
8,000 | NutraSweet NutraSweet The NutraSweet Company makes and sells NutraSweet, their trademarked brand name for the artificial sweetener aspartame, and Neotame.Aspartame was accidentally discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter, a chemist with a master's degree working under Dr. Kurt Rorig, PhD, in charge of new drug research... |
2002 | ||
| P-4000 | 4,000 | (Banned 1950) | |||
| Saccharin Saccharin Saccharin is an artificial sweetener. The basic substance, benzoic sulfilimine, has effectively no food energy and is much sweeter than sucrose, but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations... |
300 | Sweet'N Low Sweet'N Low Sweet'n Low is a brand of artificial sweetener from granulated saccharin, dextrose and cream of tartar. It was invented and first introduced in 1957 by Benjamin Eisenstadt and his son, Marvin Eisenstadt... |
1958 | E954 | |
| Sucralose Sucralose Sucralose is an artificial sweetener. The majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body and therefore it is non-caloric. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number E955. Sucralose is approximately 600 times as sweet as sucrose , twice as sweet as saccharin, and 3.3... |
600 | Kaltame, Splenda Splenda Splenda is the commercial name and registered trade mark of a sucralose-based artificial sweetener derived from sugar, owned by the British company Tate & Lyle. Sucralose was discovered by Tate & Lyle and researchers at Queen Elizabeth College, University of London, in 1976... |
1998 | E955, Tate & Lyle Tate & Lyle Tate & Lyle plc is a British-based multinational agribusiness. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index as of 20 June 2011... |
External links
- Calorie Control Council — trade association for manufacturers of artificial sweeteners and products