Sweet Substitutes: The Alternatives To Sugar
Sugar. It’s sweet, tasty, and everywhere. It occurs naturally in many foods, and is often added to processed foods, in a variety of forms. Unfortunately, too much sugar can contribute to many health problems: tooth decay, obesity, and related medical conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. Artificial sugar substitutes are often added to foods to replicate the sweetness of sugar, without the added energy or calories. Most are suitable for people with diabetes or hypoglycemia, and are usually much friendlier to your teeth.
However, artificial sweeteners have been the subject of much controversy. Some people claim they have experienced negative health effects after consuming sweeteners, while others question the political motives behind the approval process and labeling protocols for each additive. Many dietitians recommend you avoid some artificial sweeteners, or that you avoid large amounts of sugar substitutes at any one time. (Larsen – Ask the dietitian, 2009)
Before you can decide which additives you want to consume or avoid, you need to know some basic facts about each sugar substitute. Read more
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Sweeteners Exposed: Acesulfame Potassium
Ingredient Name: Acesulfame potassium
E-number: E-950
Alternative Names: Acesulfame K, Ace-K, ACK, Sweetener (950), market names (e.g. Sunett, Sweet One)
Use in Food: Acesulfame potassium is one of the five FDA-approved calorie-free artificial sweeteners currently used in the US. As it is around 180-200 times sweeter than sucrose (common sugar), very small amounts of the additive produce the desired sweetness in a variety of foods. Unlike other artificial sweeteners (such as aspartame) acesulfame potassium is stable at high temperatures and pH levels, enabling its use in baked goods. It also increases the sweetness shelf life of many products (IFIC Foundation, 2009). Read more
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Sweeteners Exposed: Aspartame
Alternative names: E-951, APM, sweetener (951), market names (e.g. Equal, NutraSweet, Canderel).
Use in food: Aspartame is an artificial sweetener, often used to replace sugar in food and drinks. About 180 times sweeter than sugar, aspartame only needs to be added in very small amounts to obtain desired sweetness. Its taste is only similar to the sweetness of sugar, and is often blended with other sweeteners (e.g. acesulfame potassium or saccharin) to achieve a more “sugar-y” taste.
As it is non-carbohydrate based and only used in very small amounts, aspartame contributes very few calories to food, and is mainly used in “diet” products. These include many carbonated soda drinks (diet and non-diet), ice cream, yogurts, cereals, chewing gum/ breath mints, ice teas, juices, instant milk drinks, confectionery, pharmaceutical drugs, vitamin supplements and as tabletop sweeteners for tea and coffee. (Aspartame information centre, 2006) Read more
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Food Tip: Avoiding Added Sweeteners
by Shereen Jegtvig
There are a couple of reasons why you might want to watch your refined sugar intake. For one, refined sugars like table sugar, dextrose, or high fructose corn syrup don’t add any beneficial vitamins or minerals, just simple carbohydrates. Although your body needs carbohydrates to function properly, eating foods with extra added sugar and quickly add too many calories that your body will easily store as fat.
Some foods are naturally higher in sugar, like fruits. But fruits are good for you because they also contain fiber and lots of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. The real enemy is added sugars and sweeteners that you find in sodas, snacks, and even processed foods. Read more
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List of Aspartame Containing Yogurt
The following table is a list of aspartame containing yogurt. It is a list from a series of lists from a database of 783 Aspartame containing products. There are 39 different flavored yogurts in this list, covering several flavors and combination flavors. Read more
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