Alternative Sweeteners

Alternative Sweeteners
Saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame-K, and sucralose. are alternative sweeteners which are also known as intense sweeteners, defined as those that are substantially sweeter than sucrose (by weight). Their intensity of sweetness ranges from 30 to several thousand times that of sucrose. Alternative sweeteners are nonnutritive substances, providing minimal to zero of calories (kcal). Although aspartame provides the same 4 calories (kcal) per gram as sucrose, so little of the sweetener is used that its caloric contribution is negligible.

Despite the controversy over the safety of alternative sweeteners, they continue to be in demand by diabetics, people watching their weight, and individuals trying to prevent tooth decay. The food industry attempts to satisfy the market by providing a wide variety of foods containing one or more of the FDA-approved alternative sweeteners.

In descending order, the most common foods sold to consumers that contain alternative sweeteners are diet soft drinks, tabletop sweeteners, pudding, gelatin, yogurt, frozen desserts, powdered drinks, cakes, cookies, jams, jellies, and candy.

One drawback of alternative sweeteners is that they do not provide the important functional characteristics of sugar: bulking, binding, texturing, and fermenting. However, certain compounds can be added to foods to compensate for the lost characteristic of bulking. These include cellulose, maltodextrin (also used for its binding property), the sugar alcohols, and poly-dextrose. Poly- dextrose provides a texture similar to sugar, with only 1 calorie (kcal) per gram, and is currently approved for use in frozen dairy desserts, baked goods and mixes, confections and frostings, hard and soft candy, chewing gum, gelatins, puddings and fillings, and salad dressings.