Non-nutritive sweeteners

There are five non-nutritive sweeteners approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration in the USA. There are saccharin, acesulfane potassium (Acesulfane-K), sucralose, aspartame, neotame. Cyclamate is also an artificial sweetener approved for use in the European Union but banned for use in the USA. Recently, Stevia, a herbal extract of intense sweeteness has entered the market.

Sugar and sugar substitutes: How safe are they?

For many consumers today, artificial sweeteners represent one of the more welcome ingredients produced by the food technology industry. Given the universally recognized love affair that humans have for sugar, it is difficult to think that substantial numbers would be compelled to exclude it from their diet for health reasons if substitutes were not around.