So I've spent the last few weeks discussing five FDA approved non-nutrative, high intensity sweeteners, but there are other products out there. Some are approved, some are natural, some are in the works and all are pretty interesting.
Lets start with cyclamate - this is one some of you may remember or those in Canada may still be using. Cyclamate is 30-40 times sweeter than sugar and is banned from use in the US. It essentially has the same issues as saccharin, namely bladder cancer in rats. As it has come to light that the mechanism that causes the cancer doesn't exist in humans, there is a push to once again approve this sweetener for use. The National Cancer Institute has even joined the petition to the FDA to reinstate this product and plenty of other countries, including Canada, have been using this sweetener for years. However, given that so many new higher intensity sweeteners exist, it is hard to say whether anyone would use cyclamate in anything other than tabletop (packet) applications. FYI - while the US banned cyclamate, Canada banned saccharin & both countries are looking at revoking the bans.
Alitame was developed in the 1980's and is 2000 times sweeter than sugar with no aftertaste. It is a cousin to aspartame & neotame in that it is a dipeptide that contains aspartic acid. Its stability is somewhere between acesulfame K and aspartame and it does not contain phenylalanine so it is safe for use by those who suffer from PKU. Alitame's other amino acid is alanine (hence its name) with an attached amine. The FDA has been petitioned to approve alitame, but that approval process is still on going. As a protein it does contain calories, but due to its low usage rate, the calories are negligible.
Lets start with cyclamate - this is one some of you may remember or those in Canada may still be using. Cyclamate is 30-40 times sweeter than sugar and is banned from use in the US. It essentially has the same issues as saccharin, namely bladder cancer in rats. As it has come to light that the mechanism that causes the cancer doesn't exist in humans, there is a push to once again approve this sweetener for use. The National Cancer Institute has even joined the petition to the FDA to reinstate this product and plenty of other countries, including Canada, have been using this sweetener for years. However, given that so many new higher intensity sweeteners exist, it is hard to say whether anyone would use cyclamate in anything other than tabletop (packet) applications. FYI - while the US banned cyclamate, Canada banned saccharin & both countries are looking at revoking the bans.
Alitame was developed in the 1980's and is 2000 times sweeter than sugar with no aftertaste. It is a cousin to aspartame & neotame in that it is a dipeptide that contains aspartic acid. Its stability is somewhere between acesulfame K and aspartame and it does not contain phenylalanine so it is safe for use by those who suffer from PKU. Alitame's other amino acid is alanine (hence its name) with an attached amine. The FDA has been petitioned to approve alitame, but that approval process is still on going. As a protein it does contain calories, but due to its low usage rate, the calories are negligible.
Tagatose is a naturally occuring monosaccharide found in dairy products. It is a low calorie, nutrative sweetener. What is particularly interesting about this product is that while it is 92% as sweet as sugar, it only has 38% of the calories. It is GRAS (generally recognized as safe) with the FDA and was approved for general use in 2003. It has minimal effect on blood glucose/insulin levels (good for diabetics) and is non-cariogenic and anti-plaque (good for your teeth). Tagatose is also has pre-biotic properties which means it is good for the bacteria in your gut and some research suggests that it may help fight against colon cancer. It is going to be hard to find because while it does occur naturally in very small quantities, commercial production requires the conversion of lactose to glucose & galactose then to tagatose. Let's keep our fingers crossed that a cost effective way to make this product is discovered.
Thaumatin is another rather strange sweetener. It is a naturally occuring mixture of proteins, as opposed to the aspartame/neotame/alitame family, that comes from the African serendipity berry, Thaumatococcus daniellii. It is extremely heat stable and is 2000 times sweeter than sugar. Thaumatin's sweetness can be detected by your tongue at levels below one part per million! Most intersting, at least to me, is that much of the research on the crystalization of this sweetner was done on the space shuttle Columbia in 1996 by NASA. Thaumatin is safe for use by diabetics as it does not effect blood glucose levels. Currently it is only GRAS for use as a flavoring agent and is primarily used in chewing gums. This may be due to the fact that the sweetness builds over time versus being super sweet immediately and it also has a bit of a licorice aftertaste, so its use may be more limited than most other sweeteners.
Stevioside is also a natural product, it is an extract of the stevia plant, which while not approved for use in the US in food products, is allowed to be sold as a dietary supplement since dietary supplements do not have to go through the FDA approval process. It is 200 -300 times sweeter than sugar and is heat stable so can be used in baked goods. Stevioside is a glycoside and exists naturally in the plant as a feeding deterrent for aphids. The FDA won't disclose why they have denied approval for use, they simply state for now that they do not have enough information yet to grant approval. Other countries have ok'd this product for use, so we'll have to wait and see if the US adds their name to the list.
Lastly is a really new sweetener; in 2007 a product called Cweet was trademarked. It comes from a West African fruit, Pentadiplandra brazzeana Baillon, and is 1000 times sweeter than sugar. It is also a naturally occuring sweet protein, like thaumatin, that is heat stable with no aftertaste. It is so new though that commercial quantities are not yet being produced and it has not yet been reviewed by the FDA for approval. It is one however, to keep your eye on for the future.
Well, that about covers sweeteners. I've told you about the old and the new, the artificial and the natural, the sugars and the proteins. You are well on your way to being sweetener experts. I hope that you research some of these sweeteners on your own and find one that works best for you. As always, I welcome your suggestions for topics, so please send me a note about what's on your mind and come back next week to see what topic I'm covering.
Thaumatin is another rather strange sweetener. It is a naturally occuring mixture of proteins, as opposed to the aspartame/neotame/alitame family, that comes from the African serendipity berry, Thaumatococcus daniellii. It is extremely heat stable and is 2000 times sweeter than sugar. Thaumatin's sweetness can be detected by your tongue at levels below one part per million! Most intersting, at least to me, is that much of the research on the crystalization of this sweetner was done on the space shuttle Columbia in 1996 by NASA. Thaumatin is safe for use by diabetics as it does not effect blood glucose levels. Currently it is only GRAS for use as a flavoring agent and is primarily used in chewing gums. This may be due to the fact that the sweetness builds over time versus being super sweet immediately and it also has a bit of a licorice aftertaste, so its use may be more limited than most other sweeteners.
Stevioside is also a natural product, it is an extract of the stevia plant, which while not approved for use in the US in food products, is allowed to be sold as a dietary supplement since dietary supplements do not have to go through the FDA approval process. It is 200 -300 times sweeter than sugar and is heat stable so can be used in baked goods. Stevioside is a glycoside and exists naturally in the plant as a feeding deterrent for aphids. The FDA won't disclose why they have denied approval for use, they simply state for now that they do not have enough information yet to grant approval. Other countries have ok'd this product for use, so we'll have to wait and see if the US adds their name to the list.
Lastly is a really new sweetener; in 2007 a product called Cweet was trademarked. It comes from a West African fruit, Pentadiplandra brazzeana Baillon, and is 1000 times sweeter than sugar. It is also a naturally occuring sweet protein, like thaumatin, that is heat stable with no aftertaste. It is so new though that commercial quantities are not yet being produced and it has not yet been reviewed by the FDA for approval. It is one however, to keep your eye on for the future.
Well, that about covers sweeteners. I've told you about the old and the new, the artificial and the natural, the sugars and the proteins. You are well on your way to being sweetener experts. I hope that you research some of these sweeteners on your own and find one that works best for you. As always, I welcome your suggestions for topics, so please send me a note about what's on your mind and come back next week to see what topic I'm covering.
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