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Frequently Asked Questions
Sweetness
Low-calorie sweeteners
Safety of low-calorie sweeteners
Low-calorie sweeteners in foods and beverages
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What foods and beverages are now available with low-calorie sweeteners?
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Why do some foods and beverages contain more than one low-calorie sweetener?
Weight control and low-calorie sweeteners
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Do the calories saved by using these products really help people lose weight?
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Can foods or beverages that contain low-calorie sweeteners be part of a healthy diet?
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Does using a low-calorie sweetener help people who lose weight to keep it off?
Diabetes and low-calorie sweeteners
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How can low-calorie sweeteners benefit people with diabetes?
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Is it safe for people who have diabetes to use low-calorie sweeteners?
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Do low-calorie sweeteners affect blood sugar or insulin levels?
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How do pleasure and palatability improve health, nutrition and diabetic control?
Dental Health and low-calorie sweeteners
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How do low-calorie sweeteners help to prevent dental caries (tooth decay)?
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What effect do low-calorie sweeteners have on dental health?
Sweetness
What is sweetness?
Sweet means "pleasing" to the taste. And sweetness is the pleasure or enjoyment that comes from food that tastes sweet. The desire for the pleasure of sweetness has a strong influence on what people choose to eat and drink. Since early times, people have sought out foods with sweet taste; for example, drawings on the walls of Egyptian tombs show bee-keepers collecting honey and sugar cane was grown in India some 2000 years ago. Today, sucrose, or table sugar, is the taste standard by which all other sweeteners are measured. An "ideal" sweetener tastes like sucrose, is colourless, odourless, readily soluble, stable and economical. Some sweeteners, like sugar, contain calories. And some are low-calorie or calorie-free.
Is it natural for people to desire foods and beverages that taste sweet?
People prefer foods and beverages that taste sweet. And they tend to avoid things that taste bitter. This preference for sweetness begins at birth -- the sweeter the bottle, the more baby drinks. Babies respond to a sweet taste with a facial expression that says, "I'm happy and I like this." Early man may have relied on this innate preference for survival: sweet fruits, berries and vegetables tend to be safe to eat, and sometimes bitter foods are dangerous to eat. This natural desire for sweetness and the habits that come from culture and experience both influences what people choose to eat and drink throughout life.
Are sweet foods OK to eat?
Sweet foods provide pleasure, and they also help improve food acceptance and palatability. And this is why sweetness can play a powerful role in determining what and how much people eat. But with the abundance of affordable food in many parts of the world today, people often eat too much food and consume too many calories. So, an important health goal is to include the pleasure of sweet foods without taking in too many calories. Fortunately, there are several ways that sweet foods can fit into a calorie-balanced and healthy lifestyle. Using low-calorie sweeteners is one way that people can have the pleasure of sweetness without too many calories.
Can a healthy diet include sweet foods and beverages?
A healthy diet provides all of the essential nutrients that your body needs to promote health, support a fit and active life, and reduce your risk of chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, diabetes or cancer. A healthy diet includes a variety of foods: cereals and grains; fruits and vegetables; protein foods such as meats, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts and vegetables; milk and other dairy products like cheese or yoghurt; and small amounts of fats and oils. A diet that includes moderate amounts of sweet foods adds positive value to the eating experience by improving taste and palatability.
Low-calorie sweeteners
What are low-calorie sweeteners?
Low-calorie sweeteners provide a sweet taste without calories, or with very few calories. Most low-calorie sweeteners are not digested by the body and provide no calories. An exception is aspartame, which is metabolised naturally. But since aspartame is approximately 200 times sweeter than sucrose, only a tiny amount of aspartame (1/10 of a kilocalorie) is needed to equal the sweetness of a teaspoon of sugar (16 kilocalories). Low-calorie sweeteners are also called "non-nutritive sweeteners", "intense sweeteners", "high intensity sweeteners", "high potency sweeteners” or "alternative sweeteners".
The first low-calorie sweetener, saccharin, was discovered in 1878. And since then, a number of other low-calorie sweeteners including cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame-K, aspartame-acesulfame salt, neohesperidine DC, thaumatin, and sucralose have been produced and used around the world.
The consumption of low-calorie sweeteners continues to increase. And consumer demand for low-calorie foods and beverages has been the major force behind this growth. The increasing interest in a health-conscious lifestyle and advances in food technology are pushing the development of more and better tasting low-calorie foods and beverages. In 2002, in terms of sugar equivalence, the global intense sweeteners market grew by 4.3%; global consumption of sugar, in comparison, grew by 3.1% (Source: LMC International). Low calorie sweeteners in 2002 accounted for almost 11% of the overall sweetener market compared to about 8% in 1990.
What are the benefits of using low-calorie sweeteners?
Low-calorie sweeteners provide consumers with calorie-smart choices that give pleasure. People around the world are increasingly health, weight and fitness conscious. But they also continue to seek the pleasure of sweetness and good taste. Low-calorie sweeteners give weight-conscious and calorie-conscious consumers products that satisfy their desire for sweet pleasure without extra calories. The big benefit: saved calories to lose weight; or, to help maintain weight as part of a fit and healthy lifestyle.
But that's not all. Low-calorie sweeteners have been shown to play a useful role in helping people lose and maintain weight. Preventing obesity is an important factor in reducing the risk of Type II diabetes or non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM). And although including moderate amounts of sugar in a diabetic diet is OK, low-calorie sweeteners make it possible to include a greater variety of sweet foods without adding too many calories.
Low-calorie sweeteners are also beneficial in the management of and the reduction of dental caries (tooth decay). Since low-calorie sweeteners cannot be used by oral bacteria that cause tooth decay, foods and beverages sweetened with low-calorie sweeteners aid in the promotion of dental health. Low-calorie sweeteners are also used in oral hygiene products for the same reason.
Safety
Are they safe to use?
All approved sweeteners are safe for use by the consumer. Safety is the number one concern of low-calorie sweetener manufacturers, food and beverage producers, regulatory bodies and consumers. A newly discovered sweetener goes through years of costly research and development to make sure that it's safe.
What is the approval procedure?
Before a sweetener comes to market and is available to consumers, it must get the approval of regulatory authorities (governments). In giving approval, these authorities rely on the safety evaluations of independent scientific advisory bodies such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), previously the European Commission's Scientific Committee for Food (SCF), the United States Food and Drug Association (FDA), and the United Nations' Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and subsequently allow its consumption. The independent experts who serve on these advisory bodies scrutinize and evaluate the data about the sweetener and its uses to make sure they are safe.
The approval process is lengthy. Safety studies may take from seven to fifteen years, and the regulatory process may take a further four to seven years.
The safety of low-calorie sweeteners
What is the ADI?
The Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI), expressed on a body weight basis, is the amount of a sweetener and any other food additive that can safely be consumed on a daily basis over a person's lifetime. The concept was developed by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and it was later endorsed by the Scientific Committee for Food (SCF) of the European Commission, now the European Food Safety Authority.
JECFA defines ADI levels as: "An estimate of the amount of a food additive, expressed on a body weight basis that can be ingested daily over a lifetime without appreciable health risk".
The ADI is usually derived from long-term animal feeding studies. First, the so-called NOAEL (No-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level) is determined. This is the greatest amount of additive, which can be fed to animals on a daily basis over a lifetime without any adverse effect. The NOAEL is then divided by a large safety factor, usually 100, and the resulting value is the ADI for humans. For example, if the NOAEL in an animal study is observed to be 100 mg/kg bodyweight, this is then converted to an ADI of 1 mg/kg bodyweight for humans. The safety factor takes into account the difference between animals and humans and the variability between individuals, including age, nutrition, pregnancy etc.
The ADI is in fact a safe intake level. If an individual occasionally exceeds the ADI, this is of no consequence if balanced by periods when the ADI is not consumed. Individuals who persistently exceed the ADI have a lower yet adequate margin of safety. For example, someone who constantly consumed twice the ADI would still benefit of a safety factor of 50 instead of 100. Therefore the ADI should be regarded as a workable benchmark to evaluate exposure and for regulators to establish permitted use levels of food additives.
How much is safe?
Sweeteners as used in foods and drinks today are safe. When approving a sweetener for use in foods and drinks, the regulator takes into account the estimated overall intake as well as the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) which includes a typical safety factor of 100.
This means that even if people occasionally consume more sweeteners than the ADI, it is still safe, as the ADI expresses the amount that a person can consume every day during lifetime.
To make sure that the levels of intake do not exceed the acceptable level, consumption studies are carried out by governments and industry. Sweeteners are the substances for which probably the greatest number of such studies has been carried out throughout the world. These studies have shown that consumers generally do not exceed the ADI and that only some consumers exceed it marginally and on rare occasions. However, exceeding the ADI occasionally presents no health concern.
How is the use of low-calorie sweeteners regulated?
Regulatory approval differs from country to country. But the goal of "safety" is the same in all countries. To achieve this goal, governments use the safety evaluations of their own scientific advisory bodies or the United Nations' Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). For example, the European Commission relies on the advice of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) – previously the European Scientific Committee for Food (SCF) – and the United States relies on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Approval is the authorisation by regulatory authorities for a specific non-calorie or low-calorie sweetener to be used by the consumer as either a table-top sweetener or an ingredient in specific foods at specified maximum amounts. Approval must be obtained before a sweetener can be sold for use in foods or beverages.
Approval is granted on the basis of safety assessments and the proof of technological need. It is granted only when regulators are satisfied that the product is safe. Regulators also establish levels of acceptable daily intake (ADI). Low-calorie sweeteners are among the most thoroughly tested food additives in use today.
For example, the European Sweeteners Directive (94/35/EC), a regulation adopted in 1994 by the European Council and Parliament and now applied in all 25 Member States of the European Union (EU), identifies the sweeteners that are approved for use in the EU, the foodstuffs in which they can be used and their maximum use level. To be approved, food additives such as low-calorie sweeteners must perform a useful purpose and be safe.
Low-calorie sweeteners in foods and beverages
What foods and beverages are now available with low-calorie sweeteners?
The wide variety of reduced-calorie and light products that consumers enjoy today would not be possible without low-calorie sweeteners. Calorie-conscious consumers savour sweet pleasures from soft drinks and table-top sweeteners (the biggest applications of low-calorie sweeteners), dairy products such as yoghurt and ice cream, desserts, chewing gums and sweets, condiments such as salad dressings, mustards and sauces and many other products including chewable multi-vitamins and dietary pharmaceutical products. The demand for light foods and beverages by consumers continues to grow. And as more applications and new low-calorie sweeteners are developed and approved for use, more sweet pleasures will become available to consumers at a reduced-calorie cost.
How can low-calorie sweeteners be used at home?
Sweeteners for individual use at home are called table-top sweeteners. They are supplied in three different forms:
- sweetener tablets
- liquid
- spray-dried granulated (so-called spoon-for-spoon)
- Concentrated powder sachets
One sweetener tablet or powder sachet normally corresponds to one teaspoon or one cube of sugar. Two or three drops of a liquid sweetener correspond to one teaspoon of sugar. And typically, one spoon of granulated provides as much sweetness as one spoon of sugar.
Sweetener tablets and powder sachets are convenient to sweeten hot beverages and liquids, in which they quickly dissolve. Cold drinks can best be prepared with a liquid sweetener.
Granulated sweetener is a special variant demonstrating the versatility of sweet alternatives. Due to its loose, fine, granule nature, granulated sweeteners are especially suitable for sweetening cereals, fruits and dessert and they can also be used in cooking and baking. Their energy content is up to 90 percent lower than that of sugar. Detailed information about their calorie content and instructions for correct use can be found on the packaging of every product.
In jams and marmalades, sweeteners do not have the conserving effect of sugar, so energy-reduced products have to be kept in the refrigerator once they are opened. On the other hand, however, sweeteners prevent the undesired fermentation often caused by sugar in marinades and dressings.
Why do some foods and beverages contain more than one low-calorie sweetener?
Each sweetener has its own unique taste profile and technical characteristics. Sweeteners can be used alone or in combination with each other. With so many low-calorie sweeteners available today, it is now possible to choose the individual or combined sweeteners that are best suited to a particular product or a particular taste in the case of branded table-top sweeteners.
Weight control and low-calorie sweeteners
Why is controlling weight and avoiding obesity important?
Weighing too much can increase the risk of developing hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, coronary heart disease and certain types of cancer and gallbladder disease. But when overweight people lose even small amounts of weight, they often see improvements in their health. For example, modest weight loss can lower blood pressure, improve blood sugar control and reduce blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. People feel good when they have control over their weight - more confidence, self-esteem and a sense of well-being.
A reduced calorie intake together with an increase in physical exercise is essential for weight loss. In the management of the overall calorie intake, low-calorie sweeteners can play an important role. They provide people with a wide variety of foods and beverages that taste good with lower calorie content.
Do the calories saved by using these products really help people lose weight?
Calories count. To lose weight, a person has to eat fewer calories than his/her body burns. And low-calorie sweeteners reduce calorie intake. Replacing 4 tsp of sugar per day with a sweetener in tea and coffee for example saves on average an amount of energy per year equal to 3kg of fat tissue.
Studies have shown that a small reduction in body weight can substantially reduce the risk of diabetes type 2, coronary heart disease, and cancer.
Do low-calorie sweeteners affect appetite?
Low-calorie sweeteners do help in weight control. They do not stimulate appetite or hunger. Indeed, numerous studies have shown that replacing sugar with low-calorie sweeteners leads to a decreased or unchanged sensation of hunger in the short-term (meal to meal). Short-term hunger is most strongly affected by volume and fiber: drinking non-caloric or reduced-calorie liquids and eating high-fiber foods is the best way to reduce hunger between meals.
Internationally eminent scientists such as Andrew Renwick, Ph.D., University of Southampton, and Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, have reviewed all available research data on low-calorie sweeteners, appetite and hunger. They conclude that sweeteners do not promote hunger and actually lead to decreased energy intakes.
Adam Drewnowski, Ph.D., University of Michigan (Nutrition Reviews), reviewed the numerous studies that have investigated this question and reported that there is no evidence that the addition of sweet taste is a stimulus to hunger or the desire to eat. And although low-calorie sweeteners are not appetite suppressants, their ability to increase the palatability of low-calorie foods may actually promote a person's ability to stick to a low-calorie diet.
A number of studies, including those by Drewnowski et al. and Raben et al., show that the use of low-calorie sweeteners contribute to weight control. In fact, most evidence shows that the calories saved by using low-calorie sweeteners at one meal are not made up for at the next meal by eating more. Of course, a person wishing to lose weight has to make a conscious effort to this end to obtain a lasting result.
Can foods or beverages that contain low-calorie sweeteners be part of a healthy diet?
The growing availability of good-tasting, low-calorie foods and beverages makes healthy eating easier than ever before. And with a wider choice of food, there is a better chance that a diet will be satisfying and successful in the long-term.
No one knows how many people might be overweight if low-calorie foods were not available, but low-calorie soft drinks are widely used by dieters. And many people simply want to save these calories for other food choices. Clearly, consumers see low-calorie foods and beverages as a useful aid in weight and health management.
Does using a low-calorie sweetener help people who lose weight not to put it back on again?
Results of a clinical study by Blackburn et al. (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School) suggest that low-calorie sweeteners (aspartame) may facilitate the long-term maintenance of reduced body weight when used as part of a multidisciplinary weight control programme that includes diet, exercise and behaviour modification. Higher amounts of sweetener consumption also led to greater amounts of weight loss during the weight-loss programme. Low-calorie sweeteners may aid long-term weight management by satisfying the desire for sweetness and controlling appetite without over-consumption of sucrose and/or fat. They may also have reduced the desire for sweets simply by providing a feeling of sweet satisfaction.
Diabetes and low-calorie sweeteners
How can low-calorie sweeteners benefit people with diabetes?
Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that results from the body's inability to make or use insulin. Insulin moves sugar in the blood into cells where it is converted into energy for life. People who have diabetes are now advised to eat a "normal" balanced diet that is rich in carbohydrates, including moderate amounts of sugar. But since an important part of diabetes management is to maintain blood sugar levels within healthy limits, low-calorie sweeteners help by providing sweet taste without increasing the blood sugar levels.
When overweight or obese people who have diabetes lose even small amounts of weight, their blood sugar improves. By reducing their calorie intake, low-calorie sweeteners aid both weight management and diabetic control.
Is it safe for people who have diabetes to use low-calorie sweeteners?
There is wide consensus among health groups that low-calorie sweeteners are safe to use by people who have diabetes as they do not affect blood sugar or insulin levels.
Do low-calorie sweeteners affect blood sugar or insulin levels?
Numerous studies have consistently shown that low-calorie sweeteners do not affect blood sugar or insulin levels. Their effect on insulin secretion and blood sugar levels has been studied by Brigitte Härtel et al., European Society August Bier for Ecology and Medicine, University of Hannover, Germany. The study's aim was to find out whether sweeteners (in general) have an impact on cephalic responses and on insulin and blood sugar levels. The study showed that "solutions of sweeteners do not cause any cephalic insulin secretion, that they have no impact on glucose levels and finally provide no evidence of a hunger mechanism based on a stimulus from sweeteners".
How do pleasure and palatability improve health, nutrition and diabetic control?
Low-calorie sweeteners provide people who have diabetes with a wide variety of good tasting foods and beverages. And a more varied and more palatable diet makes it easier to comply with diet guidelines that improve health, nutrition and blood sugar control.
People who have diabetes may feel isolated and alienated because in some ways their lifestyle is different from that of other people. Being able to have "normal" foods adds to their quality of life. This is especially helpful to children who want to be like their friends in every way.
Dental health and low-calorie sweeteners
How do low-calorie sweeteners help to prevent dental caries (tooth decay) ?
Dental caries is the eating away (demineralisation) of tooth enamel by acid in the mouth. Acid is produced by oral bacteria that ferment carbohydrate foods (sugars and starches). If people practice good dental health (maintaining oral hygiene, eating a healthy diet), saliva neutralises the acid and repairs the tooth's enamel. Tooth decay only occurs if the repair process doesn't keep up with the demineralisation process.
Scientific studies suggest that fluoride is the most important aid to prevent dental caries. It increases the resistance of tooth enamel to decay and helps speed up repair. The addition of fluoride to community water supplies and fluoride-containing mouthwashes has greatly reduced the incidence of tooth decay in industrialised countries.
Low-calorie sweeteners help prevent dental caries because they are not fermentable by oral bacteria. So, they produce no acid and cannot promote dental decay.
What effect do low-calorie sweeteners have on dental health?
Because low-calorie sweeteners cannot be fermented by oral bacteria and do not produce acids that erode tooth enamel, they cannot cause dental decay. In addition, laboratory research on animals has shown that some low-calorie sweeteners directly inhibit dental decay by interfering with the metabolism of carbohydrate by oral bacteria; they may limit the growth of decay-causing oral bacteria or reduce the amount of acid that the bacteria produce. So, foods and beverages containing these low-calorie sweeteners support dental health.
Is it good to choose toothpaste, mouthwashes and chewable fluoride tablets or breath fresheners that contain low-calorie sweeteners?
By improving palatability, low-calorie sweeteners encourage the use of toothpastes, mouthwashes and fluoride supplements that aid dental health. And they don't cause decay.