How to Treat Sweeteners Correctly?

Previously, news that the World Health Organization classified the sweetener aspartame as a possible carcinogen quickly spread across social media. Although some time has passed and the intensity of the incident has subsided, many people still have questions: Since sweeteners have safety hazards, why are the products on the market still on sale? To answer this question, first we need to know what sweeteners are.

Sweeteners, also known as sugar substitutes, refer to substances that give sweetness to food. They are safe, induce good taste, have high stability, good water solubility, and are reasonably priced. The sweeteners contained in beverages on the market today can be divided into natural sweeteners and artificial sweeteners according to their sources. The sweeteners on the market are now mainly artificial sweeteners. In recent years, some products with natural sweeteners as the main ingredients have also appeared.

Natural sweeteners, such as:

Allulose; Maltitol; Erythritol; Xylitol; Sorbitol; Stevia

Artificial sweeteners, such as::

Saccharin sodium; Aspartame; Acesulfame potassium; Cyclamate; Sucralose

Sweetener Applications.

Because these sweeteners can sweeten foods with almost no energy, they are often marketed as products to help lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Therefore, sweeteners are widely used in the production of beverages, ice cream, jam, dairy products, chewing gum, pastries and breads, especially the well-known "0 sugar, 0 calorie" sugar-free drinks.

So, how do we distinguish which foods use sweeteners? China's "Food Safety Law" requires that the packaging of prepackaged foods should have ingredients or an ingredient list, so we can easily identify whether the above-mentioned sweeteners are included in the food ingredient list before each purchase. You need to pay special attention to those foods that claim "0 sugar" or "low sugar", because most of these foods have added sweeteners. At the same time, we also need to note that the order of the ingredients list is from most to least based on the amount of ingredients added, which means that the sweetener is at the front, the higher its content is.

How should we think about sweeteners?

So do we really need to stay away from sweeteners? In fact, everyone does not need to panic. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (JECFA) jointly released an aspartame hazard and risk assessment report stating that based on the effects of aspartame: There is "limited evidence" of carcinogenicity in humans, classifying it as a "possibly carcinogen" (IARC Category 2B), and reaffirming the recommended daily allowable intake of less than 40 mg per kilogram of body weight. JECFA believes that the data evaluated show that there is no sufficient reason to change the previously established acceptable daily intake of aspartame, which is within 40 mg per kilogram of body weight, and reiterates that people can safely consume it within this limit.

Qualified food additives are not harmful to the human body, but long-term excessive intake will also cause certain damage to human health. It should be noted that the safety risks of sweeteners cannot be ignored. If consumed in large amounts for a long time, the impact on health will be immeasurable. In short, when we occasionally consume sweeteners within the safety limits prescribed by the state, it will not have much impact on our health. But it should also be noted that a balanced diet is the best nutritional choice for the body.