Low-calorie sweeteners in food and food supplements on the Italian market.

This study determines the occurrence and concentration levels of artificial low-calorie sweeteners (LCSs) in food and food supplements on the Italian market. The analysed sample set (290 samples) was representative of the Italian market and comprised of beverages, jams, ketchups, confectionery, dairy products, table-top sweeteners and food supplements. All samples were analysed via UPLC-MS/MS. The method was in-house validated for the analysis of seven LCSs (aspartame, acesulfame-K, saccharin, sucralose, cyclamate, neotame and neohesperidin dihydrochalcone) in food and for five LCSs (aspartame, acesulfame-K, saccharin, cyclamate and sucralose) in food supplements. Except for cyclamate in one beverage which exceeded the maximum level (ML) with 13%, all concentrations measured in food were around or below the ML. In food supplements, 40 of the 52 samples (77%) were found to be above the ML, with exceedances of up to 200% of the ML.

Pesquisa de adocantes nao caloricos sinteticos em adocante natural de Stevia rebaudiana (BERT.) Bertoni / Investigation of synthetic sweeteners in Stevia rebaudiana (BERT.) Bertoni natural sweetener

Foram analisadas 19 amostras de "Adocantes Naturais de Stevia", tendo por objetivo verificar-se a presenca de outros adocantes nao caloricos sinteticos que nao sao declarados no rotulo do produto. Constatou-se que em 18 amostras, alem de componentes do extrato de Stevia rebaudiana (BERT.) Bertoni, a sacarina estava presente e que so uma delas declarava tal fato no rotulo. Em tres dessas amostras foi encontrado tambem aspartame e em uma, ciclamato. Finalmente, em uma amostra nao foi encontrado nenhum componente do extrato de Stevia rebaudiana (BERT.) Bertoni, mas sim uma mistura de manitol e aspartame.

Spectrophotometric determination of cyclamate in soft drinks and desserts: complementary collaborative study.

Fifteen official food control laboratories participated in a collaborative study of a spectrophotometric method to determine cyclamate in a soft drink and a dessert at concentrations of 90-311 mg/L and 202-526 mg/kg, respectively, with blind duplicates and a blank. Average recovery from the soft drink was 97.5%, and from the dessert, 98.6%. Reproducibility relative standard deviations were 4.7-6.5% and 6.9-8.5%, respectively. The outlier percentage was 5.5%. This study complements an earlier work by leading Nordic food laboratories and was designed according to the latest recommendations. The results of this study were compared with those of the earlier collaborative study and with general collaborative results obtained by AOAC.