Description
An important class of sugar substitutes are known as high-intensity
sweeteners. These are compounds with many times the sweetness of
sucrose, common table sugar. As a result, much less sweetener is
required and energy contribution is often negligible. The sensation
of sweetness caused by these compounds (the "sweetness profile") is
sometimes notably different from sucrose, so they are often used in
complex mixtures that achieve the most natural sweet sensation.
If the sucrose (or other sugar) that is replaced has contributed to
the texture of the product, then a bulking agent is often also
needed. This may be seen in soft drinks that are labeled as "diet"
or "light" and contain artificial sweeteners and often have notably
different mouthfeel, or in table sugar replacements that mix
maltodextrins with an intense sweetener to achieve satisfactory
texture sensation.
In the United States, six intensely sweet sugar substitutes have
been approved for use. They are stevia, aspartame, sucralose,
neotame, acesulfame potassium, and saccharin. There is some ongoing
controversy over whether artificial sweetener usage poses health
risks. The US Food and Drug Administration regulates artificial
sweeteners as food additives.[1] Food additives must be approved by
the FDA, which publishes a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list
of additives. To date, the FDA has not been presented with
scientific information that would support a change in conclusions
about the safety of these approved high-intensity sweeteners (with
the exception of Stevia, which is exempt under FDA's GRAS policy
due to its being a natural substance in wide use well before ***8,
and has been approved by FDA). The safe conclusions are based on a
detailed review of a large body of information, including hundreds
of toxicological and clinical studies.
The majority of sugar substitutes approved for food use are
artificially synthesized compounds. However, some bulk natural
sugar substitutes are known, including sorbitol and xylitol, which
are found in berries, fruit, vegetables, and mushrooms. It is not
commercially viable to extract these products from fruits and
vegetables, so they are produced by catalytic hydrogenation of the
appropriate reducing sugar. For example, xylose is converted to
xylitol, lactose to lactitol, and glucose to sorbitol. Other
natural substitutes are known, but are yet to gain official
approval for food use.
Some non-sugar sweeteners are polyols, also known as "sugar
alcohols". 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. As with all food products, the
development of a formulation to replace sucrose is a complex
proprietary process.
