Artificial sweeteners may be derived through manufacturing of plant
extracts or processed by
chemical synthesis. High-intensity sweeteners, one type of sugar substitute, are compounds with many times the
sweetness of
sucrose (common table sugar).
Sorbitol,
xylitol and
lactitol are examples of
sugar alcohols (also known as polyols). 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.
Allulose Allulose is a sweetener in the sugar family, with a chemical structure similar to fructose. It is naturally found in figs, maple syrup and some fruit. While it comes from the same family as other sugars, it does not substantially metabolize as sugar in the body. The FDA recognizes that allulose does not act like sugar, and as of 2019, no longer requires it to be listed with sugars on U.S. nutrition labels. Allulose is about 70% as sweet as sugar, which is why it is sometimes combined with high-intensity sweeteners to make sugar substitutes.
Acesulfame potassium Acesulfame potassium (Ace-K) is 200 times sweeter than sucrose (common sugar), as sweet as aspartame, about two-thirds as sweet as saccharin, and one-third as sweet as sucralose. Like saccharin, it has a slightly bitter
aftertaste, especially at high concentrations.
Kraft Foods has patented the use of
sodium ferulate to mask acesulfame's aftertaste. Acesulfame potassium is often blended with other sweeteners (usually aspartame or sucralose), which give a more sucrose-like taste, whereby each sweetener masks the other's aftertaste and also exhibits a synergistic effect in which the blend is sweeter than its components. Unlike aspartame, acesulfame potassium is stable under heat, even under moderately acidic or basic conditions, allowing it to be used as a food additive in baking or in products that require a long shelf life. In carbonated drinks, it is almost always used in conjunction with another sweetener, such as aspartame or sucralose. It is also used as a sweetener in protein shakes and pharmaceutical products, especially chewable and liquid medications, where it can make the active ingredients more palatable.
Aspartame Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by
James M. Schlatter at the
G.D. Searle company. 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.
Torunn Atteraas Garin oversaw the development of aspartame as an artificial sweetener. It is an odorless, white crystalline powder that is derived from the two amino acids
aspartic acid and
phenylalanine. It is about 180–200 times sweeter than sugar, with aspartame being a rigorously tested food ingredient. Although aspartame has been subject to
claims against its safety, Aspartame has been deemed safe for human consumption by over 100 regulatory agencies in their respective countries, the
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and
Health Canada.
Cyclamate ) In the United States, the
Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of cyclamate in 1969 after lab tests in rats involving a 10:1 mixture of cyclamate and
saccharin (at levels comparable to humans ingesting 550 cans of diet soda per day) caused
bladder cancer. This information, however, is regarded as "weak" evidence of
carcinogenic activity, and cyclamate remains in common use in many parts of the world, including
Canada, the
European Union and
Russia.
Mogrosides (monk fruit) Mogrosides, extracted from monk fruit (which is commonly also called ), are recognized as safe for human consumption and are used in commercial products worldwide. As of 2017, it is not a permitted sweetener in the European Union, although it is allowed as a flavor at concentrations where it does not function as a sweetener. It is the basis of
McNeil Nutritionals' tabletop sweetener Nectresse in the United States and Norbu Sweetener in Australia.
Saccharin Apart from
sugar of lead (used as a sweetener in ancient through medieval times before the toxicity of lead was known), saccharin 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 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 sweeter than 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 in laboratory rats. In 1977,
Canada banned saccharin as a result of 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 forms when the cells regenerate (regenerative hyperplasia). According to the
International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the
World Health Organization, "This mechanism 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 removed saccharin and its salts from their list of hazardous constituents and commercial chemical products. In a 14 December 2010 release, the EPA stated that saccharin is no longer considered a potential hazard to human health.
Steviol glycosides (stevia) Stevia is a natural non-caloric sweetener derived from the
Stevia rebaudiana plant, and is manufactured as a sweetener. It is indigenous to
South America, and has historically been used in Japanese food products, although it is now common internationally. After being provided with sufficient scientific data demonstrating safety of using stevia as a manufactured sweetener, from companies such as
Cargill and
Coca-Cola, the FDA gave a "no objection" status as
generally recognized as safe (GRAS) in December 2008 to Cargill for its stevia product,
Truvia, for use of the refined stevia extracts as a blend of
rebaudioside A and
erythritol. In Australia, the brand Vitarium uses Natvia, a stevia sweetener, in a range of sugar-free children's milk mixes. In August 2019, the FDA placed an import alert on stevia leaves and crude extracts—which do not have GRAS status—and on foods or dietary supplements containing them, citing concerns about safety and potential for
toxicity.
Sucralose The world's most commonly used artificial sweetener, Most of the controversy surrounding
Splenda, 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 prepared from either of two sugars, sucrose or
raffinose. 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. and the way sucralose is
metabolized suggests a reduced risk of toxicity. For example, sucralose is extremely insoluble in fat and, thus, does not accumulate in fatty tissues; 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). In 2017, sucralose was the most common sugar substitute used in the manufacture of foods and beverages; it had 30% of the global market, which was projected to be valued at $2.8 billion by 2021. As a sugar substitute, they typically are less-sweet and supply fewer calories (about a half to one-third fewer calories) than sugar. They are converted to glucose slowly, and do not spike increases in
blood glucose.
Sorbitol,
xylitol,
mannitol,
erythritol and
lactitol are examples of sugar alcohols. They are not entirely metabolized by the human body. They are found commonly in small quantities in some fruits and vegetables, and are commercially manufactured from different carbohydrates and
starch. ==Use==