Review of Present and Future Use of Nonnutritive Sweeteners

Abstract

In response to growing consumer demand for better tasting, low- calorie, sugar-freefoodproducts, the number of food items containing nonnutritive sweet eners has grown markedly in recent years. In this paper, present sweetener consumption is reviewed; the history, properties, uses, advantages, and safety of approved sweeteners such as saccharin, aspartame, and acesulfame-K are presented, as well as those of sweeteners such as cyclamate, sucralose, and alitame that are awaiting FDA approval; the role ofsweeteners in the dietary management of persons with diabetes is discussed; and counseling guide lines for safe consumption are given.