All About Artificial Sweeteners

The Lowdown on Zero-Calorie Sugar Substitutes

-- By Becky Hand, Licensed & Registered Dietitian

SparkPeople advertisers help keep the site free! Learn more Do you feel like you are surrounded by sweets? Cookies, ice-cream, candy, soda and other sugary treats are everywhere, along with the extra calories and simple carbohydrates they contain. For people with diabetes and those trying to cut calories and carbohydrates, sugar is a big no-no, so the words “sugar free" can be music to their ears—or at least satisfaction for a sweet tooth.

"Sugar free" food products are sweetened by sugar substitutes, which go by many names: non-nutritive sweeteners, low calorie sweeteners, no-calorie sweeteners, artificial sweeteners, and alternative sweeteners. No matter what you call them, they all taste similar to sugar but contain little to no calories and have little glycemic response.

Despite FDA approval, artificial sweeteners have been accused of causing everything from mood and behavioral disorders to headaches, multiple sclerosis, obesity, heart disease and cancer. While some individuals may attribute these symptoms to artificial sweeteners, there are no published, peer-reviewed, controlled scientific studies to support these accusations. According to the National Cancer Institute, there is no scientific evidence that any artificial sweeteners approved for use in the United States cause cancer. The American Dietetic Association says that adults can safely enjoy a range of non-nutritive sweeteners when consumed in a diet that is guided by federal nutrition recommendations such as the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Before any sugar substitute reaches the market, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviews several studies (including short and long-term toxicity, carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity, and reproductive toxicity studies) to assess its safety. Currently, the FDA has approved six non-nutritive sweeteners for use in the United States: acesulfame-potassium, aspartame, neotame, saccharin, stevia (Rebaudioside A) and sucralose.

In addition, the FDA establishes Acceptable Daily Intakes (ADI) for each artificial sweetener. An ADI is the amount of artificial sweetener a person can safely consume (per kilogram of body weight) on average, every day, over a lifetime without incurring any health risks. This includes a 100-fold safety factor, meaning that the ADI is 1/100th of the actual amount that is considered safe for daily consumption. So how much artificial sweetener can an adult safely consume each day, according to these ADIs established by the FDA? Here's an example: To reach the ADI for aspartame (which is 50 mg/kg body weight per day), a 150-pound adult would need to consume 20 (12-ounce) cans of diet soda OR 42 (4-ounce) servings of sugar-free, diet gelatin OR 97 packets of tabletop sweetener in a single day.

Artificial Sweeteners and Obesity
Obesity is a complex problem without a single cause. A single component of the food supply, such as sugar, can't be blamed for obesity or weight gain, but research does show that non-nutritive sweeteners may promote weight loss in overweight and obese individuals when they replace the intake of sugar calories (sugar has 16 calories per teaspoon) with sugar substitutes. However, others raise the question of whether a sweet food environment increases the risk of obesity through appetite, intake and food regulation mechanisms. Preliminary studies on animals suggest that high intakes of artificial sweeteners may affect appetite control (i.e. by eating more sweet foods—artificially sweetened or not—you crave more of them). Therefore, the Beverage Guidance Panel recommends that adults consume no more than 32 ounces of artificially sweetened beverages daily. Individuals who want to use artificial sweeteners should do so within the context of a sensible weight-management program that includes a balanced diet and regular exercise.

Artificial Sweeteners and the Glycemic Response
Artificial sweeteners do not affect blood sugar levels or the glycemic response. Therefore, the American Diabetes Association states that non-nutritive sweeteners are appropriate for people with diabetes and may help control calorie intake. Individuals with diabetes should work with a Registered Dietitian and/or Certified Diabetes Educator to develop a customized eating plan. More information is available in SparkPeople's Type 2 Diabetes Resource Center. If you have diabetes or other reasons to watch your sugar intake, check with your health care provider before trying sugar substitutes; sugar-free doesn't always mean safe for everyone.

Let's take a closer look at the six FDA-approved non-nutritive sugar substitutes.

Acesulfame-Potassium (Acesulfame-K) goes by the brand names Ace-K, Sunett and Sweet One. It is a combination of organic acid and potassium that is often blended with other sugar substitutes.

• 200 times sweeter than sugar
• 0 calories per gram
• Heat stable (can be used in cooking and baking)
• Produces no glycemic response
• ADI: 15 mg/kg body weight per day

Aspartame goes by the brand names Equal and NutraSweet. It is composed of two amino acids (proteins), aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Aspartame is one of the most thoroughly tested food additives, according to the FDA. People with the rare heredity disease phenylketonuria (PKU) should not consume aspartame.

• 160-220 times sweeter than sugar
• 4 calories per gram (metabolized as a protein), but because such a small amount is needed to sweeten foods and beverages, the calories provided by aspartame are considered negligable.
   
• Not heat stable (cannot be used in cooking or baking)
• Produces a limited glycemic response
• ADI: 50 mg/kg body weight per day

Neotame is one of the newest artificial sweeteners approved for use in packaged foods and beverages.

• 7,000-13,000 times sweeter than sugar
• 0 calories per gram
• Heat stable (can be used in cooking and baking)
• Produces no glycemic response
• ADI: 18 mg/kg body weight per day
• Rapidly metabolized and excreted

Saccharin goes by the brand names Necta Sweet, Sugar Twin and Sweet 'N Low.

• 200-700 times sweeter than sugar
• 0 calories per gram
• Heat stable (can be used in cooking and baking)
• Produces no glycemic response
• ADI: 15 mg/kg body weight per day

Stevia (Rebaudioside A) goes by the names PureVia, Sun Crystals and Truvia. It is a steviol glycoside, one component of the stevia plant that provides sweetness. Click here for SparkPeople's in-depth article on stevia.

• 250-300 times sweeter than sugar
• 0 calories and 0 carbohydrates per gram
• ADI: 0-4 mg/kg body weight per day
• Metabolized by the body into steviol, which is not absorbed in the blood and therefore leaves the body unchanged

Sucralose goes by the brand name Splenda.

• 600 times sweeter than sugar
• 0 calories per gram
• Heat stable (can be used in cooking and baking)
• Produces no glycemic response
• ADI: 5mg/kg body weight per day
• Poorly absorbed and excreted unchanged

Sugar substitutes can offer calorie-conscious consumers a way to enjoy the taste of sweetness with little or no calories and no glycemic response. They may assist in weight management, blood glucose control, and the prevention of dental caries. Foods sweetened with sugar substitutes are lower in calories than food sweetened with caloric sweeteners and can be one component of a weight loss program. But remember, you need to control calories in your entire eating plan to lose weight. Removing the sugar from a soda, cookie or candy bar does not turn it into a health food. Without monitoring your portion size, you can still get too many calories and zero nutritional benefits from foods and drinks that contain artificial sweeteners.

At SparkPeople, we acknowledge and respect each member's personal choice to either incorporate sugar substitutes into their diets or not. We will continue to stay on top of the most current food and nutrition research and disseminate this information to our members when available.

I know this isn't all of them but it is the ones approved by the FDA. I think that I have posted this before but it bears repeating

Thanks for posting this again, Liz!!!  I've saved it in a Word doc so I can refer back to it. (Was wishing I had done that when it was posted before.)

Have you ever baked with stevia?  My former SIL said she bakes with it and no one can tell the difference.  Just wondering if anyone here has tried it and what their experience was with it.

There are two articles accompanying this one - Here's the one on Stevia and I'll post  the other on Sugar Alcohols below this one...

Karen

The Science behind Stevia

How Safe is This Newly Approved Sweetener?
  -- By Becky Hand, Licensed & Registered Dietitian
The sweetener stevia has plenty of dedicated followers. Who can blame them? For years, food and supplement manufacturers have advertised stevia as all natural, calorie free and safe for people with diabetes. To many people, stevia seems like a win-win: It sweetens food without adding calories, and it seems to be a healthy alternative to artificial sweeteners. But can you really believe all the hype?

The History of Stevia: From Supplement to Sweetener
Stevia is derived from the leaves of a South American shrub called Stevia rebaudiana. Its green leaves contain a substance that is 250-300 times sweeter than table sugar. The leaf extracts have been used for years in Brazil, Paraguay, Japan, South Korea, and China to sweeten foods in small to moderate amounts.

About 40 years ago, scientists began to study stevia in a laboratory setting. Some studies showed that stevia may reduce fertility or cause genetic mutations that could lead to cancer. In the 1970s, it was banned as a food ingredient in the United States. Then i***** the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act made it legal to sell stevia in the United States as a dietary supplement only. Unlike foods, supplement manufacturers are not required to prove that their products are safe for consumption. For more than a decade, stevia powders, liquids and extracts were sold, usually in health food stores, as supplements, not foods. During this time, companies could not sell or market stevia as a food or an ingredient in any food product.

In 2004, the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization, an international regulatory authority, re-evaluated the research on stevia and requested additional information from ongoing toxicological and clinical studies. (To see a PDF version of that report, click here.)

There are two main sweetening chemicals in the stevia leaf: Rebaudioside A (also called Reb A or Rebiana) and stevioside. These two purified forms have received the most recent research. The July 2008 journal Food and Chemical Toxicology published eight studies on stevia. (You can obtain abstracts from these published studies through www.pubmed.com.) One report showed no reproductive toxicity in rats exposed to the sweetener for two generations, and two human studies showed that 1,000 milligrams of Rebaudioside A per day was safe for healthy adults, as well as those with Type 2 diabetes. They did not report on stevioside.

Around this time, several food manufacturers petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, stating that they consider Rebaudioside A (the highly purified extract of stevia) to be "GRAS" (Generally Recognized as Safe). When the FDA adds a food (or ingredient) to the GRAS list, it can be sold in foods and as a food product, even without prior FDA approval and without definitive proof that the food actually is safe.

In December 2008, the FDA concluded that Rebausioside A, the highly purified form of the leaves of the stevia plant, could have GRAS status as a general-purpose sweetener in foods and beverages. That means that stevia is no longer a supplement. You can now find it in the baking aisle, next to other sugars and artificial sweeteners. It is also an ingredient in some foods and beverages, used much like artificial sweeteners are, in diet soda, diet drinks, pudding, yogurt and other food products.

Not all food and nutrition experts are content with this research or with the FDA's ruling to add stevia to the GRAS list. Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, is encouraging more testing. While Jacobson doesn't say that stevia is harmful, he doesn't think it should be marketed until new studies establish that it is safe. (To see CSPI's stance, along with Jacobson's letter to the FDA, click here.)

Marketing
Despite lingering controversy, food manufacturers didn't waste any time bringing this zero-calorie sweetener to the public. As we are publishing this article (Feb. 2009), three companies sell stevia on your grocery shelf:

• Truvia (from Coca-Cola and Cargill) is marketed as a tabletop sweetener. The Coca-Cola company will also sweeten Sprite Green and Odwalla juice drinks with Truvia.
   
• PureVia (from PepsiCo and Whole Earth Sweetener Co.) is marketed as a tabletop sweetener, and Pepsi will use it as a sweetener in three flavors of SoBe Lifewater.
   
• Sweetleaf by Wisdom Natural Brands started selling in the summer of 2008.
   

This Dietitian’s View
Adults should consume no more than four artificially sweetened products daily, and that includes products sweetened with stevia. This guideline gives you the freedom to enjoy sweet foods without added calories or carbohydrates, but in amounts that won't take the place of other more nutritious foods that should make up the bulk of your diet.

Examples of a single serving include:

• 8-oz diet soda (or other beverage)
• 1/2 cup sugar-free pudding or gelatin dessert
• 8 ounce container of sugar-free yogurt
• One packet of artificial sweetener (added to any food or beverage)

It is one thing to sweeten your cup of tea in the morning with a little stevia. But in the United States, we live in a world of excess. We don't have one cup of tea; we have two or three, plus sweetened coffee, oatmeal, soda, smoothies and snacks, for example. Now that beverage companies have started using stevia, I can only assume that millions of people of all ages will consume large amounts of this sweetener throughout their lifetime. Just as I do with real sugar, natural sweeteners, sugar alcohols and sugar substitutes, I still preach moderation. It may sound boring, but it is the safest route to take.

What are Sugar Alcohols?

What You Need to Know
  -- By Becky Hand, Licensed & Registered Dietitian
If you spend any time looking at nutrition labels, you’ve probably noticed some intriguing ingredients in sweet foods that are touted as diet-friendly, sugar-free, or even low-carb. One ingredient, known as "sugar alcohol," is a special type of sugar replacement that is frequently found in soft drinks, gums, cookies, and sugar-free candy. Ever wonder what sugar alcohol is doing in these supposedly healthy foods? You're not alone!

What are Sugar Alcohols?
The term “sugar alcohol" is very misleading. Sugar alcohols get their name from their unique chemical structure, which resembles both sugar and alcohol. But they're neither sugars nor alcohols. In fact, sugar alcohols are a type of carbohydrate that sweetens foods, but with half the calories of sugar. There are several specific types of sugar alcohols (usually ending with the letters "-ol"). When reading a food label, the following ingredients are actually sugar alcohols:

• Erythritol
• Hydrogenated starch hydrolysates
• Isomalt
• Lactitol
• Maltitol
• Mannitol
• Sorbitol
• Xylitol

Look familiar? You'll find sugar alcohols in a wide variety of foods (gums, candies, ice creams, baked goods, and fruit spreads), health and beauty products (toothpastes, mouthwashes and breath mints), and even medicines (cough syrups, cough drops and throat lozenges). In the near future they may be found in pie fillings, cake frostings, canned fruit, beverages, yogurt and tabletop sweeteners.

Why Use Sugar Alcohols?
You may wonder why manufacturers would put sugar alcohols in foods and other products, or why people might seek them out. Here are a few reasons why consumers choose these products:

• Fewer calories. Sugar alcohols contain fewer calories (0.2 to 3 calories per gram) than sugar (4 calories per gram) does, making them a diet-friendly choice for people who want to limit their caloric intake, but still enjoy sweet foods.
• Safe for diabetics. Sugar alcohols are absorbed more slowly (and incompletely) by the body. Unlike regular sugar, they require little or no insulin for metabolism. *People with diabetes should consult their physician, dietitian or other health professional about incorporating sugar alcohols into their daily meal plans.
• Better dental health. Sugar alcohols do not promote tooth decay since they are not metabolized by the bacteria that produce dental cavities.
• Fewer drug interactions. Sugar alcohols do not react with the pharmacologic ingredients in medicines as much as sugar sometimes can.
• Individual tastes. The different types of sugar alcohols vary in sweetness, from being about half as sweet to equally sweet as sugar.

In addition to consumer desires, sugar alcohols appeal to manufacturers too. Here's why:

• Sugar alcohols do not lose their sweetness when heated.
• Sugar alcohols do not absorb water like sugar does. Therefore the surface of foods made with sugar alcohols won't become sticky as quickly as products made with sugar.
• Molds and bacteria do not grow and multiply on sugar alcohols as well as they do on sugar.
• They can use a combination of sugar alcohols, sugar and/or artificial sweeteners to give the most pleasant taste, appearance, and texture to a food product.

Are Sugar Alcohols Safe?
Sugar alcohols have been used for years. After careful review, scientists have concluded that they are safe for human consumption. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies some sugar alcohols as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) and others are approved as "food additives."

For some people, consuming certain sugar alcohols in excessive amounts may cause gastrointestinal upsets such as gas, bloating and diarrhea. Whether or not you will experience problems will depend on your individual sensitivity level and the other foods you consume at the same time. It is best to find your individual tolerance level when using these food ingredients, and to avoid them if they cause discomfort.