What is saccharin?
Saccharin is the oldest nonnutritive sweetener on the market in the United States. It was discovered by an American chemist in 1878 and is currently produced from a manufactured substance that also occurs naturally in grapes. Saccharin is approximately 300 to 400 times sweeter than sugar. In hig ...
- What is Sucralose?
Sucralose is the latest non-nutritive sweetener to be approved in the United States. Six hundred times sweeter than sugar, sucralose is derived from sugar through a patented, multi-step process that selectively substitutes three chlorine atoms for three hydrogen-oxygen groups on the sugar molec ...
- What is aspartame?
Aspartame was discovered in 1965. It was first authorized to enter the market in the United States in 1974. This authorization was suspended a few months later on the grounds that the first studies had not properly evaluated if aspartame could be toxic to the brain or cause brain cancer. A new ...
- What is Neotame?
The most recently-approved low-calorie sweetener, neotame was approved by the FDA in 2002 as a general purpose sweetener. Extensive review of over 100 scientific studies was completed prior to approval. Neotame has also been approved for use in multiple countries in Europe, Asia, North and Sout ...
- What is Acesulfame Potassium (Ace-K)?
Acesulfame K, or acesulfame potassium, was discovered in Germany in 1967 and was approved for use in the United States in 1988. In the United States, acesulfame K was granted general purpose approval in December, 2003. It is 200 times sweeter than sugar and has no aftertaste except when used al ...
- What are sugar substitutes?
Commonly called no calorie sweeteners, sugar replacements or artificial sweeteners, sugar substitutes are food additives that duplicate the effect of sugar or corn syrup in taste, but usually contribute fewer calories to the food. Researchers did not discover non-nutritive sweeteners until the ...
- What are sugar alcohols?
Sugar alcohols or "polyols," as they are also called, are neither sugars nor alcohols. They are carbohydrates with a chemical structure that partially resembles sugar and partially resembles alcohol . They occur naturally in plant products such as fruits and berries but are commercially produce ...
- I see the ingredient sorbitol list as a label ingredient in some of the “sugar free” foods I buy. What exactly is it?
Sorbitol is one several compounds called polyols, a group of low-digestible carbohydrates that provide a range of calories per gram—from 0.2 to 3. Many people know polyols as sugar alcohols. The preferred name is polyols because they are neither sugar nor alcohol. Polyols are used in an ...
