Sugar substitute Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
A sugar substitute is a food additive which duplicates the effect of sugar on the taste, but with fewer calories. In Commonwealth English, sugar substitutes are often referred to as "sweeteners" (to the exclusion of sugar).
They are often used in soft drinks such as cola and foods labeled as "diet" or "light".
Due to health reasons, primarily to lose weight, some people control their caloric intake by substituting sugar with other sweeteners with few or no calories. Others, such as diabetics, must limit their consumption of sugar.
Chemical compounds used as sugar substitutes include saccharin (e.g. Sweet'N Low), aspartame (e.g. Equal, NutraSweet).
Some sugar substitutes, such as sorbitol, are used instead of sugar not because they lack calories, but because they don't promote tooth decay or because they have advantages for people with diabetes mellitus in that they are metabolized more slowly than sugar and hence cause blood sugar levels to remain more stable.
People using sugar substitutes instead of sugar take the risk of replacing one health problem with a different one. For example, saccharin is shown to be a carcinogen to lab animals when taken in high quantities, while aspartame is an alleged neurotoxin in large doses. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration determined in 1981 that aspartame is safe to use in foods. It has also ruled that all products containing aspartame must include a warning to phenylketonurics that the sweetener contains phenylalanine, and continues to review complaints alleging adverse reactions to products that contain aspartame.
Natural sugar substitutes:
- glycyrrhizin (see licorice) — 50x the sweetening potency of sucrose (by weight)
- thaumatin — 2,000x
- stevia — 250x
- acesulfame potassium (also known as Acesulfame-K or Ace-K) — 200x
- alitame
- aspartame — 160x
- neotame — 7,000–13,000x
- cyclamate (calcium cyclamate or sodium cyclamate) — 30x
- glucitol
- saccharin (also spelled saccarine, saccarin, or saccharine) — 300x
- sorbitol
- sucralose (trademarked as Splenda or Splendar) — 600x
- xylitol — 1x (by weight), 1.5x (by energy content)
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