Sweeteners permitted

Uses Gasoline antioxidant and sweetener permitted for aviation gasoline... 

While high potency sweeteners are not carbohydrates, their role in replacing the traditional bulk sweeteners permits their discussion here. There are several high... 

To provide a HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of permitted sweeteners in a range of foodstuffs. 

As required by Directive 89/107/EEC, criteria of purity have been drawn up for all the listed food additives (with a couple of exceptions). Purity criteria for all the permitted sweeteners have been prescribed in Directive 95/31/EC,6 as amended, and criteria for all the permitted colours are contained in Directive 95/ 45/EC,7 as amended. Directives that prescribe purity criteria for all the additives authorised under Directive 95/2/EC have been drawn up in stages. Directive 96/ 77/EC8 containing purity criteria for antioxidants and preservatives is amended by Directives 98/86/EC which lays down purity criteria for emulsifiers, stabilisers and thickeners and 2000/63/EC which contains purity criteria for most additives numbered E 500 and above, and for certain other additives not covered in the earlier directives. Purity criteria for most of the few remaining permitted miscellaneous additives are contained in Directive 2001/30/EC however, purity criteria for E 1201 polyvinylpyrrolidone and E 1202 polyvinylpolypyrrolidone are still being considered by the Scientific Committee on Food. Some methods of analysis for verifying prescribed purity criteria have been developed at EU level these are contained in Directive 81/712/EEC.9... 

The EU Directives 94/35/EC, 94/36/EC and 95/2/EC on sweeteners, colours and food additives other than colours and sweeteners, limit the amounts of certain food additives that can be used and the range of foods in which they are permitted. Similarly, the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC) has published its General Standard on Food Additives (GSFA), which lists the maximum use levels recorded world-wide. Care should be taken when using data from the EU Directive annexes or the GSFA because the figures represent the maximum permitted in each food group. In practice, use levels may need to be much lower to achieve the desired technical effect, particularly if used in combination with other additives intended for the same purpose. Furthermore, the additive is unlikely to be used in all foods in which it is permitted because other additives compete for the same function in the marketplace. 

Approved in 1981 as a table top sweetener and for dry foods, aspartame was permitted in carbonated soft drinks in 1983, and in 1996 its approval was extended to all foods and beverages. There has been controversy over the role a Public Board of Inquiry played in the approval process, but this has been discounted in reports by the American Medical Association (Council of Scientific Affairs, 1985) and Stegink (1987). Reports of adverse reactions began almost immediately after approval in the 1980s, and by mid-1984 more than 600 complaints had been received by the FDA. Reports of adverse reactions peaked in 1985, when over 1,500 complaints were received by ARMS, and have been declining since then. As of June 2000, ARMS had received a total of 7,335 complaints about aspartame, with 47% of complaints linked to diet soft drinks, followed by 27% of complaints attributed to table top sweeteners. All other product categories were mentioned in fewer than 10% of complaints. 

Only sweeteners conforming to certain purity criteria are permitted for use in foods. Such purity specifications are normally based on the specifications of the substance used in safety evaluations as byproducts and impurities may affect the toxicological profile of a substance. 

In the latter Directive, except for antioxidants and preservatives, individual uses are not listed in either the basic Directive or in the Directives on purity criteria (specifications). In the EU, the functional use of the main additives permitted for use in processed foods are described in Directive 89/107/EC. There are 23 listed which are shown in Table 11.1. In this chapter we are concerned with 17 categories listed in the Directive 95/2/EC on food additives other than colours and sweeteners (these are indicated by an asterisk in Table 11.1). 

That no risk exists can he proved under one and only one set of circumstances when it is certain that exposure does not exist. How can the latter condition he ensured The only real way is to guarantee that a chemical is not used for any purpose. We can know that exposure to cyclamate, a commonly used non-nutritive sweetener until 35 years ago when it was banned by the FDA, does not exist (save, perhaps, in somebody s laboratory, where a few bottles might be sitting around, and in some other countries, where its use is permitted), because food manufacturers are prohibited from adding it to foods and beverages. Cyclamate thus poses no risk to individuals in the United States -under present conditions we are absolutely protected from any risks this chemical may pose (a debate still continues about whether it is carcinogenic but that is irrelevant to this discussion). 

The FDA also regulates food additives - substances, such as antioxidants, emulsifiers and non-nutritive sweeteners, that are intentionally and directly added to food to achieve some desired technical quality in the food. As noted, the Delaney clause prohibits the deliberate addition to food of any amount of a carcinogen. These additives, if they are threshold agents (not carcinogenic), can be allowed as long as the human intake does not exceed a well-documented ADI. Those who would seek approval for an additive need to supply the FDA with all of the toxicity information needed to establish a reliable ADI, and all of the product-use data that would permit the agency to assure itself that the ADI will not be exceeded when the additive is used. 

Three separate Directives must be consulted for the positive list of approved food additives, colors, and sweeteners, including the detailed listing of the food categories and the maximum level of use permitted within each food category. 

Glucose-galactose syrups are about three times sweeter than lactose (70% as sweet as sucrose) and hence lactose-hydrolysed milk could be used in the production of ice-cream, yoghurt or other sweetened dairy products, permitting the use of less sucrose and reducing caloric content. However, such applications have not been commercially successful. 

Sweeteners can be classified into two categories, bulk and intense. The bulk sweeteners are used in the food industry both as sweeteners and as bulking agents. They also offer preservative and bodying effect. They are metabolized by the body and provide calories. They include glucose, fructose, maltose, products hydrolyzed from starch, and sugar alcohols. These sweeteners vary in sweetness over a narrow range from 0.3 to 1.2 times the sweetness of sucrose. The bulk sweeteners are permitted in a number of specified foodstuffs at quantum satis—as much as needed (2,6,8-10). 

The main intense sweeteners currently permitted for use in the major markets of Europe and the United States are not natural and have had to go through a food additive approval procedure. Within the European Union, approval is controlled by the EU Commission, with the aim of achieving harmonisation across member states. The current system allows for temporary national approval (and this was the mechanism by which sucralose was approved in the United Kingdom). This in turn allows the other EU countries time to review the data and either approve or reject each product within a specified period. Within the European Union, approved sweeteners are assigned an E number and can also be assigned a maximum use level within a specific application (e.g. soft drinks). The maximum use levels for sweeteners in soft drinks in the European Union are given in Table 4.2. 

Regulatory. Aspartame is permitted across the world in all major markets. It has an ADI of 40 mg/kg bw, which is significantly higher than other sweeteners. It is ironic that, historically, this sweetener has been the subject of allegations about adverse health effects. Evidence put forward has been largely anecdotal and picked up and promoted via the internet or the lay press. Scientifically controlled peer-reviewed studies have consistently failed to link aspartame consumption, even of abuse levels, to adverse health effects. The most recent review, of over 500 studies and reports about aspartame conducted by the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF), concluded that... 

The FDA has, so far, refused to lift the ban on cyclamate, despite several petitions from Abbot Laboratories. Cyclamate is permitted in the European Union and came back into use in the United Kingdom via the harmonised EU Sweetener Regulations 1991. Use of cyclamate in the UK soft drinks industry is almost non-existent 10 years after its re-approval. 

The stability of NeoDHC is good under many of the process and storage conditions that exist in soft drinks production. In the European Union it is permitted via the 1994 Sweetener in Food Regulation, with a maximum use level in soft drinks of 30 mg/1. It is assigned E-number 959. It is not permitted for use in the United States. Use in soft drinks is limited by its taste profile. 

Sucralose is not metabolised by mammalian species and is poorly absorbed by the body. JECFA has assigned an ADI of 15 mg/kg bw. Sucralose was approved in the United States in April 1998 for use in a variety of food applications, including soft drinks. In August 1999, this approval was extended to full-category GMP approval. In the United Kingdom, it was granted a temporary approval on 15 March 2002 (UK Statutory Instrument 379). In 2004, sucralose was added to the EU list of permitted sweeteners. 

The regulatory position of stevioside varies in different regions of the world. Japan is the main market for stevioside and consumes 90% of the world s supply of stevia leaves (Richard, 2002). Stevioside is used in Japan in a variety of applications, including soft drinks. In other markets, the use of stevioside, if permitted at all, is limited to supplements. In the United States, the FDA issued an import alert in May 1991 blocking the import of and sale of stevia products, following the results of a preliminary mutagenicity study. In 1995, the FDA revised the import alert to allow the sale of stevia and its extracts as a food supplement, but not as a sweetener. It currently does not have GRAS status and is considered to be an unsafe food additive (Richard, 2002). 

Sweetener E-Number Typical sweetness factor compared with sucrose Maximum UK permitted use (mg/l)... 

Sucralose. Sucralose is the most recently permitted artificial sweetener. It is a chemically modified sugar but has a vety high sweetness factor, comparable with that of saccharin, but without the unpleasant aftertaste. 

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