Government-approved artificial sweeteners: Artificial sweeteners are nonnutritive in nature since they provide no calories or energy to the body. There are five artificial sweeteners aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal), saccharin (Sweet’N Low, Sweet Twin, Necta Sweet), acesulfame K (Sunnet, Sweet One), neotame, and sucralose (Splenda) approved for use in the United States by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Two artificial sweeteners that the FDA has not approved are alitame and cyclamate.
Aspartame is two hundred times sweeter than sugar and was approved for use as a general-purpose sweetener in all foods and drinks in 1996. Saccharin is two hundred to seven hundred times sweeter than sugar. It is used as a tabletop sweetener and in soft drinks and chewing gum. Acesulfame K was first approved by the FDA as a tabletop sweetener and is about two hundred times sweeter than sugar. Neotame, which is about seven thousand to fourteen thousand times sweeter than sugar, was approved in 2002 as a general-purpose sweetener in a wide variety of food products. Sucralose is the only artificial sweetener that has three chlorine atoms in its chemical structure and is six hundred times sweeter than sugar. It was approved in 1998 for use in food products, such as beverages, chewing gum, and frozen desserts. Sucralose was approved by the FDA as a general-purpose sweetener in all foods in 1999.
Metabolism: Sucrose, the chemical entity in natural table sugar, binds to special receptor proteins in the taste buds. This binding initiates a cascade of events that finally results in a signal sent to the brain that causes the sensation of sweet taste. Additionally, sugar is a carbohydrate that is metabolized by the body to provide calories. Artificial sweeteners have a greater affinity for the receptor proteins and work by binding two hundred to fourteen hundred times more strongly to the receptor proteins than sucrose. As a result of their stronger binding capacity, the artificial sweeteners are needed in much lower quantities than sugar to produce the same degree of sweetness.
The artificial sweeteners are either excreted by the body or converted to by-products with little or no caloric output. Saccharin, sucralose, and acesulfame K are excreted unchanged by the body and do not provide any calories. The enzymes in the body hydrolyze neotame and produce methanol as a by-product. Aspartame is broken down in the body to produce methanol and the amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine and very few calories compared with sugar. Methanol is further degraded to formaldehyde in the body. Both methanol and formaldehyde are toxic to human beings at high doses. People with the genetic disease phenylketonuria (PKU) lack the enzyme that breaks down phenylalanine. Because phenylalanine is produced as a by-product of aspartame digestion, people with PKU should not ingest aspartame. Foods containing aspartame must carry a label warning consumers with PKU that the product is a source of phenylalanine.
Cancer risk: Questions regarding the risk of cancer associated with the consumption of artificial sweeteners arose when early studies indicated that saccharin caused bladder cancer in test animals. Subsequent epidemiological studies of groups of people did not find a definitive correlation between saccharin use and bladder cancer. There are two more controversial reports on the correlation between aspartame use and cancer. One study found more lymphomas and leukemias in rats fed very high doses of aspartame while the other study did not find a link between aspartame use and cancer.
Artificial sweeteners are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Before artificial sweeteners can be launched in the US market, the FDA reviews numerous safety studies conducted with them, including the studies that assess their potential cancer risk. The reviews have not conclusively demonstrated any strong positive correlation between various cancers and artificial sweetener use. Studies continue to be conducted, and the FDA will continue to review and evaluate the results.
Artificial sweeteners are beneficial for people with diabetes and for people on weight-loss plans. The effects of their long-term use on weight-maintenance and cancer risk are controversial because they are not clearly understood. In the light of insufficient experimental data and all the controversy swirling around the use of artificial sweeteners, moderation should be the watchword for everyone using them.
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Gallus, S., et al. “Artificial Sweeteners and Cancer Risk in a Network of Case-Control Studies.” Annals of Oncology 18.1 (2007): 40–44.
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Schernhammer, Eva S., et al. “Consumption of Artifical Sweetener- and Sugar-Containing Soda and Risk of Lymphoma and Leukemia in Men and Women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 96.6 (2012): 1419–428. Print.
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United States. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Natl. Toxicology Program. Report on Carcinogens. 12th ed. Research Triangle Park: Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2011. Print.
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