Information about some popular artificial sweeteners
2022-12-27
Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sucrose. Aspartame is the most commonly used sweetener in sugar-free colas owned by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Some studies have pointed to a possible link between aspartame and weight gain and cancer. But since FDA approval in 1981, no convincing evidence has been found linking aspartame to weight gain and cancer. The World Health Organisation and the American Dietetic Association have stated that moderate intake of aspartame does not pose a health risk. Aspartame breaks down into three products when ingested: aspartic acid, methanol and phenylalanine. The levels of these chemicals are relatively low compared to other foods, such as milk. All three products are safe for the general population, but some people with a genetic disorder called phenylketonuria (or PKU) cannot metabolise phenylalanine.
Acesulfame is approximately 200 to 250 times sweeter than sucrose. It has a similar sweetness to aspartame and also contains few calories. One of the characteristics of acesulfame is that it has the effect of enhancing sweetness when mixed with other Sweeteners, so it is often mixed with aspartame. Acesulfame can be widely used in solid beverages, sauces, preserves, gummies, and various foodstuffs used as sweeteners for the table. Acesulfame is not metabolised and does not accumulate in the human body, 100% of it is excreted from the body in urine in its original form. The use of acesulfame in strict compliance with the standards and regulations will not cause harm to the health of consumers. Sweeteners are 50 times sweeter than sucrose and are used in cooking and baking. 40% of sweeteners taken orally by humans are excreted in urine and 60% in faeces, with no accumulation. But it has been banned in the United States and Japan since 1970 due to the discovery of bladder cancer in mice fed with sweetener in 1969. However, more than 80 countries, including China and the European Union, allow the addition of sweeteners to food, but there are clear limits. The advantages of sweeteners are better sweetness, lower after-bitterness than saccharin, and lower cost; the disadvantages are low sweetness, high dosage, and easy to use over the limit. The latest research shows that sweeteners on the proliferation of osteoblasts and differentiation has a significant inhibitory effect, often consume sweeteners content exceeds the standard of the beverage or other food, will be due to excessive intake of human liver and nervous system harm, especially for the metabolism of the detoxification capacity of the weaker elderly, pregnant women, children, the hazards of the more obvious.
It is 300 to 500 times sweeter than sucrose and is eaten with a slight bitter and metallic taste remaining on the tongue. It is a particularly sweet white crystal extracted from black, sticky, smelly coal tar by extracting toluene, treating it with sulphuric acid, phosphorus pentachloride and ammonia, then oxidising it with potassium permanganate, and finally crystallising and dehydrating it. Uncle Dai in the early 1970s studied a link between hair flavoured saccharin and bladder cancer, but later studies have shown that these results were only in rats and lacked evidence of causing cancer in humans. However, it should still be reduced or avoided. There are a few cases of consumers consuming large quantities of saccharin for a short period of time in total ignorance of its dangers, causing thrombocytopenia resulting in acute haemorrhage, multiple organ damage, etc., and leading to malignant poisoning incidents. Sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sucrose. Sucralose was approved by the FDA in 1998, and although one study suggested that sucralose may negatively affect the immune system, follow-up studies have not found a correlation.The CSPI considers it safe, and some studies have concluded that it is not carcinogenic. In patients with diabetes, the intake of sucralose can limit calorie and carbohydrate intake. After sucralose enters the body through the mouth, most of it is excreted directly in the faeces as sucralose protoforms, with a small residue excreted through the urine. Following Canada, countries such as the United States, Japan, the European Union, Australia and New Zealand have confirmed the safety of sucralose and approved its use. China also officially approved the use of sucralose in 1997. More than 100 countries have now approved the use of sucralose as a food sweetener in a wide range of food applications. Xylitol sweetness is comparable to sucrose Sugar alcohols contain calories. But they have fewer calories than sugar, (xylitol gives the body one-tenth the calories of sucrose for the same sweetness) which makes them an attractive alternative and they do not cause tooth decay like sucrose. Because it contains fewer carbohydrates than sucrose and the body can not fully absorb sugar alcohols, so sugar alcohols are usually used in diabetic sugar-free food, but excessive consumption will still lead to increased blood sugar (although xylitol itself penetrates into the cells with insulin has nothing to do, but xylitol is a link in the metabolic cycle, producing other metabolites still need insulin to participate in the pancreas, which will aggravate the burden of pancreas) large amounts of consumption can cause bloating and diarrhoea Xylitol is not related to the metabolic cycle. Therefore, xylitol should be used in moderation.
Share to:
