Around the world, the search continues for a sweetening substance without the calorie (kcal) content of sugar. Several sweeteners from a variety of sources are being investigated or are awaiting approval. The chemical structure of alternative sweeteners varies tremendously and includes peptides, amino acids, carbohydrates, inorganic salts, and synthetic compounds. Read more »

Acesulfame-K as an Artificial Sweetener

Acesulface-K was discovered in 1967 and, like the other artificial sweeteners, was stumbled upon by accident. Sold as Sunette, Acesulfame-K was FDA-approved in 1988 for use in tabletop sweeteners, dry beverage mixes, and chewing gum. It is 130 times sweeter than sucrose and is stable to heating and cooling, but it has a bitter aftertaste like that of saccharin. Read more »

Aspartame as Sweetener in Cooking

Like saccharin, aspartame was discovered by accident. In 1965, James Schlatter was doing research on ulcer drugs when he licked his finger to pick up a piece of paper and noticed that the finger tasted sweet. He realized that the sweetness came from an earlier spill in the laboratory. What Schlatter discovered was a substance that is 180 times sweeter than sucrose. Read more »

Saccharin as an Alternative Sweetener

Saccharin was discovered as a sweetener in 1878 by Constantin Fahlberg. The researcher noticed that his dinner roll tasted strangely sweet and traced it back to a saccharin substance he had accidentally spilled on his hands while working in his university research lab. Saccharin is now available as acid saccharin, sodium saccharin, and calcium saccharin. Read more »

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. Read more »

Sugar Alcohols
Sugar alcohols are found naturally in fruits and vegetables or are synthesized by hydrogenating certain sugars. They include sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, maltitol, isomalt, lactitol, and erythritol. Although primarily sold to food manufacturers as ingredients, isomalt is available to professional chefs. Read more »

About Invert Sugar

Invert sugar is available only in clear, liquid form and is sweeter than granulated sugar. This type of sugar resists crystallization and is commonly used by professional confectioners who need a sugar that yields a smooth, melt-in-the-mouth texture. Read more »

Maple Syrup

Native Americans were the first to collect the sap from maple trees and boil it into a smooth, tasty syrup. Long ago, sap was harvested by drilling holes into a maple tree, inserting a spout, and catching the fluid in a bucket positioned under the spout. Newer methods eliminate the buckets, instead utilizing a network of plastic pipelines attached to the trees. Read more »

What is Molases

Molasses is the thick, yellow to dark brown liquid by-product of the juice of sugar cane or beets. The liquid is repeatedly boiled, but for the end product to be called molasses, it must contain no more than 75 percent water and 5 percent mineral ash. Most of the sugar in molasses is sucrose, which render the product darker with each boiling. The syrup’s ultimate color determines its grade. Read more »

Honey

Before sugar from cane became available, the world depended primarily on honey as a sweetener. Bees collect the thin, watery nectar of flowers and, during the flight back to their hive, convert it through enzymatic action into fructose and glucose molecules. The bees deposit the nectar in honeycombs, where most of the water evaporates to create a thick, sweetened syrup, which is further flavored with enzymes added by the bees. Read more »