Food Safety: What kinds of food are likely to contain Aspartame?
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Whichever way you choose to go in the sugar wars sooner or later you have to decide if Aspartame is for you. Knowing which foods are likely to contain aspartame is knowing what you want or don’t want to eat. What food products include Aspartame?
The Aspartame website contains a list of product types but not specific products that use it as an ingredient. That list is set out below but you can check the AW for updates.
The Following Reduced Calorie Products Have Aspartame-Sweetened Choices
· Breath Mints
· Carbonated Soft Drinks
· Cereals
· Chewing Gum
· Flavored Syrups for Coffee
· Flavored Water Products
· Frozen Ice
· Frozen Ice Cream Novelties
· Fruit Spreads
· Gelatin, Sugar Free
· Hard Candies
· Ice cream Toppings
· Ice Creams, No Sugar Added or Sugar Free
· Iced Tea, Powder
· Iced Tea, Ready to Drink
· Instant Cocoa Mix
· Jams & Jellies
· Juice Blends
· Juice Drinks
· Maple Syrups
· Meal Replacements
· Mousse
· No Sugar Added Pies
· Non-Carbonated Diet Soft drinks
· Nutritional Bars
· Powdered Soft Drinks
· Protein Nutritional Drinks
· Pudding
· Soft Candy Chews
· Sugar Free Chocolate Syrup
· Sugar Free Cookies
· Sugar Free Ketchup
· Table Top Sweeteners
· Vegetable Drinks
· Yogurt, Drinkable
· Yogurt, Fat Free
· Yogurt, Sugar Free
The FDA does discuss Aspartame on its website. Here is what the FDA site states about each of the artificial sweeteners. See the FDA consumer magazine, July-August 2006, Artificial Sweeteners: No Calories ... Sweet! What follows is on the U.S. FDA website. Is aspartame safe?
After reviewing scientific studies, FDA determined in 1981 that aspartame was safe for use in foods. In 1987, the General Accounting Office investigated the process surrounding FDA's approval of aspartame and confirmed the agency had acted properly. However, FDA has continued to review complaints alleging adverse reactions to products containing aspartame. To date, FDA has not determined any consistent pattern of symptoms that can be attributed to the use of aspartame, nor is the agency aware of any recent studies that clearly show safety problems.
Carefully controlled clinical studies show that aspartame is not an allergen. However, certain people with the genetic disease phenylketonuria (PKU), and pregnant women with hyperphenylalanine (high levels of phenylalanine in blood) have a problem with aspartame because they do not effectively metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine, one of aspartame's components. High levels of this amino acid in body fluids can cause brain damage. Therefore, FDA has ruled that all products containing aspartame must include a warning to phenylketonurics that the sweetener contains phenylalanine.
Source: Excerpted from FDA Consumer, May 1994 (Updated December 2004): Food Allergies Rare but Risky
Aspartame
Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar. It has a caloric value similar to sugar (4 kcal/g), but the amounts used are small enough to consider aspartame essentially free of calories. Brand names include NutraSweet and Equal. Aspartame was first approved by the FDA in 1981 as a tabletop sweetener, and for use in gum, breakfast cereal, and other dry products. The use of aspartame was expanded to sodas in 1983, and then to use as a general-purpose sweetener in all foods and drinks in 1996.
Saccharin
Saccharin is 200 to 700 times sweeter than sugar and has no calories. Brand names include Sweet'N Low, Sweet Twin, and Necta Sweet. Saccharin is used in tabletop sweeteners, baked goods, soft drinks, jams, and chewing gum.
Saccharin was discovered in 1879 and had been considered generally recognized as safe (GRAS) until 1972, when it was removed from the GRAS list by the FDA. By definition in the law, a GRAS substance has a long history of safe use in foods, or is determined to be safe based on proven science. But if new evidence suggests that a GRAS substance may no longer be safe, the FDA can prohibit its use or require further safety studies.
In 1977, the FDA proposed a ban on saccharin because of concerns about rats that developed bladder cancer after receiving high doses of saccharin. In response, Congress passed the Saccharin Study and Labeling Act. This legislation put a moratorium on the ban while more safety studies were under way. Also, foods containing saccharin were required to carry a label warning that the sweetener could be a health hazard and that it was found to cause cancer in laboratory animals. Saccharin has been the subject of more than 30 studies in humans.
According to the National Cancer Institute, further studies showed that saccharin did not cause cancer in humans, and that the bladder tumors in rats were related to a mechanism that isn't relevant for humans.
In 2000, the National Toxicology Program determined that saccharin should no longer be listed as a potential cancer-causing agent. Federal legislation followed in 2001, removing the requirement for the saccharin warning label.
Acesulfame-K (potassium)
Acesulfame-K is 200 times sweeter than sugar, with zero calories. Brand names include Sunett and Sweet One. Acesulfame-K was first approved by the FDA in 1988 for specific uses, including as a tabletop sweetener. The FDA approved the sweetener in 1998 for use in beverages. In December 2003, it was approved for general use in foods, but not in meat or poultry. Acesulfame-K can be found in baked goods, frozen desserts, candies, beverages, cough drops, and breath mints.
The FDA and the Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization (FAO/WHO) Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives have evaluated the sweetener's safety. "More than 90 studies support the safety of acesulfame-K," Tarantino says.
Neotame
Neotame is 7,000 to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar, depending on how it's used in food, and has no calories. The FDA approved neotame in 2002 as a general-purpose sweetener in a wide variety of food products other than meat or poultry. It has been approved for use in baked goods, soft drinks, chewing gum, frosting, frozen desserts, jams, jellies, gelatins, puddings, processed fruit and fruit juices, toppings, and syrups.
Tarantino says that neotame is structurally similar to aspartame. "The potential release of phenylalanine from neotame is so limited that a warning for phenylketonuric-type individuals isn't warranted," she says.
The FDA reviewed data from more than 100 animal and human studies on neotame. These studies evaluated cancer-causing, reproductive, and neurological effects. "Based on a thorough evaluation of the data, there are no adverse effects anticipated when neotame is ingested at levels that are used in foods," Tarantino says.
Sucralose
Sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sugar on average and has no calories. Although sucralose is made from table sugar, it adds no calories because it isn't digested in the body. The brand name is Splenda. After reviewing more than 110 animal and human studies, the FDA approved sucralose in 1998 for use in 15 food categories, including as a tabletop sweetener and for use in products such as beverages, chewing gum, frozen desserts, fruit juices, and gelatins. In 1999, the FDA allowed sucralose as a general-purpose sweetener in all foods.