Hot Topics - Artificial Sweeteners

Recommendations to limit intakes of sugars are mainly based on the increased risk of dental caries, although there are also concerns about the contribution of foods high in sugar, particularly in sweet drinks, to weight gain and the risk of becoming obese.

There are a range of substances that can be used as alternative sweeteners to sucrose (‘sugar’) in food and drinks. Intense sweeteners, such as saccharin, aspartame and acesulfame potassium, are classified as additives. They add sweet taste to foods, but contain negligible calories, and are ‘tooth friendly’. Nutritive sweeteners, such as fructose, and polyols such as sorbitol and xylitol, have bulk and so can replace the volume of sucrose in foods such as cakes and jams.

Intense sweeteners are widely used directly by consumers concerned with weight control, or with diabetes, to replace sucrose in hot drinks or for cereals. However most sweeteners consumed are incorporated into products promoted as reduced-calorie or sugar-free. There has been a large increase in the availability of drinks and squash formulated with intense sweeteners, driven by consumer health concerns but also by the cost advantages of sweeteners over sucrose.

Products containing the sweetener aspartame (E951) must be labelled with a statement that the product contains phenylalanine: this is specific information for people with phenylkenonuria who cannot metabolize this substance.

In the UK, the consumption of intense sweeteners is monitored to ensure that typical intakes do not exceed safe levels. Their use is not permitted in foods specifically prepared for babies and young children, and as a precautionary measure, the diets of children should not contain large quantities of foods containing artificial sweeteners.