Sweeteners as Food Additive

Sweeteners as Food Additive
Sweetening agents are added to a large number of foods and beverages. Table sugar (sucrose), the most commonly used sweetener in United States, including corn sugar and syrup. Sweeteners include other sugars, as well as an abundance of natural and synthetic agents of varying strengths and caloric values.

Many sweeteners are classified as nonnutritive sweeteners. While this classifications might imply a lack of nutritional value, the implication is correct only in relative sense, That is, the caloric value of a nonnutritive sweetener, like aspartame, for example, is about 4 Cal/g as it is for sugar; however, since it takes only 1 g aspartame to provide the same sweetness level as about 180 g of sugar (sucrose), it can be seen that the caloric contribution of aspartame is only about 0.5% that 0f sucrose. It is on this basis that nonnutritive sweeteners are classified.

The presently approved sweetness are saccharin, fructose, glycyrrhizin, xylitol, mannitol, sorbitol, acessulfame and aspartame.
Sweeteners as Food Additive