Guide to artificial sweeteners

Aspartame – a guide to artificial sweeteners

Aspartame is an arti­fi­cial high-inten­si­ty sweet­en­er that most peo­ple are famil­iar with. It is a well-tried ingre­di­ent that can be found in many dif­fer­ent foods. At the same time, aspar­tame has endured mas­sive crit­i­cism and sus­pi­cion. Many peo­ple believe that it is harm­ful and can cause all sorts of dis­eases and ail­ments. But what does aspar­tame con­sist of, what are its prop­er­ties and does it belong in mod­ern sug­ar reduction?

Acesulfame K – a guide to artificial sweeteners

Acesulfame K is fair­ly unknown among the arti­fi­cial sweet­en­ers. Perhaps the com­pli­cat­ed name con­tributes to that. It is how­ev­er a pop­u­lar and inex­pen­sive sweet­en­er that does not pro­vide any calo­ries. It can also act as a flavour enhancer. But should you use it? That’s anoth­er story!

Sucralose – a guide to artificial sweeteners

Sucralose is a sta­ble and inex­pen­sive sweet­en­er that is also calo­rie-free. It is how­ev­er also an organochlo­rine com­pound, just like banned pes­ti­cides. Sucralose is bro­ken down very slow­ly – what impact does it have on the environment?

Saccharin – a guide to artificial sweeteners

Saccharin is the old­est arti­fi­cial sweet­en­er. It was cre­at­ed as ear­ly as 1879. The his­to­ry of sac­cha­rine has major polit­i­cal and eco­nom­ic dimen­sions – but it’s also humor­ous and even includes an American pres­i­dent. But what about its rep­u­ta­tion and is it a safe ingredient?

Cyclamates – a guide to artificial sweeteners

Cyclamate is an arti­fi­cial sweet­en­er with rel­a­tive­ly low sweet­ness but with­out strong off-flavours. It was dis­cov­ered in the 1930s, approved in the United States in the 1950s, and banned in the same coun­try in the 1960s. But in the EU it is actu­al­ly an approved ingredient.

Advantame – guide to artificial sweeteners

Advantame is the lat­est arti­fi­cial sweet­en­er; it was approved in 2014 for use with­in the EU. It is sim­i­lar to aspar­tame in taste and prop­er­ties – though sweet­er and bet­ter in many ways. Still, advan­tame has not yet had its big breakthrough.

Neotame – guide to artificial sweeteners

The com­pa­ny that acci­den­tal­ly dis­cov­ered aspar­tame in the mid-1960s decid­ed 25 years lat­er to find the ‘per­fect’ sweet­en­er. This time, noth­ing was left to chance. The US com­pa­ny devot­ed sev­en years of inten­sive research, plough­ing down $ 80 mil­lion, and test­ing 2,500 can­di­dates, before one day find­ing its win­ner… In this arti­cle, you will learn most about neo­tame (E 961).