Low-calorie drinks

Paradoxically, the nutritional component of greatest commercial significance is the absence of nutrition, achieved by substituting carbohydrate sweeteners with non-nutritive sweeteners such as saccharin and acesulfame-K, or the amino acid sweetener aspartame. 

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Malic acid finds use in a variety of products, mostly in fruit-flavoured carbonates. It is the preferred acidulant in low-calorie drinks and in cider and apple drinks, enhancing flavour and stabilising colour in carbonated and non-carbon-ated fruit-flavoured drinks. Malic acid may also be used to mask the off-taste of some sugar substitutes. Blends of malic and citric acids are said to exhibit better taste characteristics than either acidulant individually. 

With the exception of soda waters and most low-calorie drinks, all soft drinks rely at least partially on sugars to provide sweetness and body. 

The answer is clearly yes except for low-calorie drinks they provide a nutrient source of mono- and disaccharides for acid formation and, like all acidic foodstuffs, they have the potential to cause erosion. However, there are two mitigating factors serving to reduce greatly the damage that soft drinks might at first be thought to cause. These are ... 

Normal dose rates are about 100-120 g of powder to make a litre of sugar sweetened drink and as little as 10-20 g for low-calorie drinks and unsweetened drinks where the consumer adds sugar to taste. 

The search continues for noncaloric high-intensity sweeteners in the food industry because of the strong demand for low-calorie drinks and reduced-calorie foods. A common approach in the discovery of these new agents is to begin from existing natural sweeteners and improve upon their stability, toxicology, and flavor profile. Supporting these... 

Nonnutritive Sweeteners. Diet or low calorie beverages represent a significant portion (27.7%) of the total soft drink market. The diet category is expected to increase at approximately 2% per year. Currendy, saccharin and aspartame [22839-47-0] C24H2gN20, are the only nonnutritive... 

Aspartame is a low-calorie sweetener used in many foods and drinks. Because it is between 160 and 200 times sweeter than sugar, only very small amounts are needed to sweeten a product. A typical 12-ounce low-calorie soft drink will have 180 milligrams of aspartame in it. 

Sucralose is used in a wide variety of no-calorie and low-calorie foods, such as tabletop sweeteners, baked goods, desserts, toothpastes, mouthwashes, and diet drinks. 

A 35-year-old woman with a history of hypertension presents to your clinic complaining of low energy and irritability. She reports not following any specific diet because they have all failed in the past. She does admit to eating out frequently. This patient does not exercise because her job and her kids are too demanding. Patient does smoke a half pack of cigarettes per day and consumes low-calorie, caffeinated and alcoholic drinks most days. Her BMI is 32 kg/m2, and her waist circumference is 38 in (97 cm). 

Abstract Aspartame (Apt), Acesulfame-K (Ace-K) low-calorie, high-potency artificial sweeteners ate cnnently nsed in beverages and dietary food and drinks. Their increased application in food and drink prodncts has given a new impetus to develop fast and accurate methods for their determination. Absorption spectra of Asp, Caf, Ace-K and BA strongly overlap. Therefore a direct determination of these analytes in quaternary mixture is impossible without a separation step. In order to overcome this difficulty partial least squares (PLS) method has been proposed. 

BK Dwivedi. Artificially sweetened low-calorie foods other than drinks. In AM Altschul, ed. Low-Calorie Foods Handbook. New York Marcel Dekker, 1993, pp 331-342. 

M Mathlouthi, C Bressan. Low calorie soft drinks. In R Khan, ed. New York Blackie Academic Professional, 1993, pp 165-178. 

Almost all soft drinks are now available in low calorie , diet or light formulations. These products have a low calorie content and are usually cheaper to manufacture than the corresponding sugar-containing products. 

Thud, soft drinks have been widely formulated to low-calorie forms and these are now available for those who wish to enjoy such beverages and yet minimise their calorific intake. 

Hie 1970 cyclamate ban ended the use of saccharin/cyclamate blends in many soft drinks markets. The effect of this was that the low-calorie soft drinks market remained small and static owing to the poor taste quality of products available. Hie intr oduction in 1982-83 of aspartame in particular, and acesulfame K to a lesser extent, into the global soft drinks market dramatically improved the... 

Carbohydrates still feature as important components of many non-carbonated beverages, and they are particularly important in the manufacture of dilutable drinks. Historically, the UK Soft Drinks Regulations of 1964 required dilutable drinks to have a minimum level of 22.5% w/v carbohydrates unless they were declared to be low calorie . The regulations assumed a five times dilution factor (1 part dilutable plus 4 parts water) and thus a minimum carbohydrates level of 4.5% w/v in finished drinks. 

After water quality, sweetness is probably the most important feature of a soft drink. In fact, until 1995 in the United Kingdom it was essential that a soft drink contained a minimum level of sugars. This level was set at 45 g/1 unless the product was listed as a low-calorie soft drink (Anon, 1964 UK Soft Drinks Regulations 1964). These regulations have been revoked (Anon, 1995a), and it is now possible to make a soft drink with or without added sugars, if required, provided the product is appropriately labelled. 

Beverages still wines, carbonated and noncarbonated beverages, fruit drinks, low- 0.02-0.10 calorie drinks... 

Acesulfame-K is 200 times as sweet as sugar and is not metabolized and is thus noncaloric. It is exceptionally stable at elevated temperatures encountered in baking, and it is also stable in acidic products, such as carbonated soft drinks. It has a synergistic effect when mixed with other low-calorie sweetners, such as aspartame. Common applications of acesulfame-K are table uses, chewing gums, beverages, foods, bakery products, confectionary, oral hygiene products, and pharmaceuticals. 

At the present time, the reported applications of the CR CSP have been limited to the separation of amino acids and some dipeptides as bulk substances. One example of the use of the CR CSP in a complex matrix was the direct stereochemical resolution of aspartame stereoisomers and their degradation products in coffee and diet soft drinks (76). Aspartame (N-DL-a-aspartyl-DL-phenylalanine methyl ester) is a dipeptide whose L,L-isomer is a low-calorie sweetener sold under the name NutraSweet. The structure of aspartame and its major degradation products are presented in Fig. 9 aiwl the stereochemical separation of these compounds on the CR CSP in Fig. lOA. The resolutions were accomplished using a mobile phase... 

The artificial sweeteners, saccharin and cyclamate, and their sodium and calcium salts, may be used in low-calorie foods and saccharin is permitted in certain low-calorie soft drinks. If manufacturers wish to use an additive which is not listed as permitted and is not specifically prohibited, they may obtain permission from the Minister of Health. 

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