Aspartame Possibly Cause Cancer! What Sweetener Choices Do Consumers Have?

On July 14th, citing “limited evidence” for carcinogenicity in humans, IARC classified aspartame as possibly carcinogenic to humans (IARC Group 2B) and JECFA reaffirmed the acceptable daily intake of 40 mg/kg body weight.

Sugar-free beverages, sugar-free tea drinks, sugar-free yogurt and other products that have emerged in recent years actually contain sweeteners. Sweeteners can be divided into artificial sweeteners and natural sweeteners. Natural sweeteners are healthier, while artificial sweeteners are less expensive and sweeter.

It is shown that the main artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and acesulfame-K are 200 times sweeter than sucrose. Sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sucrose; button is 13,000 times sweeter than sucrose. Among natural sweeteners, sweeteners obtained through plant extraction are mostly 200 times or more sweet than sucrose, and sugar alcohols or rare sugar sweeteners obtained through biological fermentation methods have a sweetness ratio lower than that of sucrose. In most sugar-reduced and sugar substitute products, artificial sweeteners are used more widely than natural sweeteners. From the perspective of specific product application trends, among artificial sweeteners, the use of aspartame and acesulfame-K in new products has dropped significantly in recent years, and the amount of sucralose has increased significantly. In terms of natural sweeteners, the demand for steviol glycosides and erythritol has grown rapidly, and the number of new products using these two sweeteners has increased by more than fourfold in the past 10 years.

After aspartame is "out", what sweetener choices do consumers have?

In China, in addition to aspartame, these sweeteners have been approved:

Synthetic sweeteners: saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, neotame, etc.;

Natural sweeteners: steviol glycoside, mogroside, glycyrrhizinate;

Sugar alcohol sweeteners: erythritol, mannitol, maltitol, xylitol, lactitol, sorbitol, isomaltulose.

At present, in China, sucralose and erythritol have received a high degree of attention and development, and allulose, the "next-generation sugar star", may soon be approved.

1. Sucralose.

Among artificial sweeteners, sucralose is non-toxic and low in calories, and has a good development trend.

At present, the world's artificial sweeteners have developed to six generations, among which the fifth generation of sucralose is safe and has no toxicological controversy; its sweetness is 600 times that of sucrose; it has the advantages of pure sweetness and low calories.

2. Erythritol.

According to the data of China Food News Network, from 2016 to 2020, the consumption of erythritol in China increased rapidly from 2,500 tons to 41,000 tons, with an average annual compound growth rate of 101%. Affected by the rapid growth of demand, Chinese enterprises have accelerated the expansion of erythritol production capacity, and many enterprises have launched their layout. (You may want to contact erythritol manufacturers)

3. Allulose.

Allulose is regarded as "a new generation of sugar substitute star", which is a new type of natural functional rare sugar. It has multiple advantages, including:

(1) It has pure taste and it’s taste is close to sucrose;

(2) It has extremely low calories and almost no calories;

(3) There is no tolerance problem of sugar alcohol products such as erythritol;

(4) It can play a certain role in promoting digestion, controlling weight, and inhibiting blood sugar;

(5) It can produce Maillard reaction, and has greater application space in the kitchen and baking markets.

At present, allulose is in the early stage of industrialization, and its production and sales volume is relatively low. It can be used legally in 14 countries including the United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

In China, the application for adding allulose to the list of food additives has also been accepted by the National Health and Medical Commission in August 2021, and the approval work as a food additive has not yet been completed. However, in May of this year, the National Health and Medical Commission announced that D-allulose-3-epimerase was listed as a new type of enzyme preparation for the food industry, marking a big step forward for allulose to be officially approved. Some companies predict that the use of allulose as a sweetener in China is expected to be approved in the second half of 2023 to the first half of 2024. Once approved, allulose is expected to achieve large-scale promotion and application in China.

You may also be interested in the following products provided by Saigaonutri:

Organic allulose sweetener

Corn fiber

Non gmo resistant dextrin

Soluble tapioca fiber

Fructooligosaccharide powder

Soybean fiber powder

If you have any questions, we will help you!