Sweeter Than Sugar

The FDA has just approved a new artificial sweetener called neotame that soon will be on ingredient labels on supermarket shelves.

Nutritionist Samantha Heller of New York University Medical Center explains to The Early Show's viewers how neotame works and how it compares to other artificial sweetners. She also lists possible health hazards and outlines the most sensible ways to include artificial sweeteners in diets.

Neotame is 7,000 to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar. It is a water-soluble, white crystalline powder approved for use as a tabletop sweetener as well as in cooking and food processing in a variety of products such as baked goods, soft drinks, chewing gum, jams and jellies and processed fruits and fruit juices.

Neotame is made by the privately held NutraSweet Company of Mount Prospect, Ill. The firm also makes NutraSweet, or aspartame. Neotame is about 20 to 30 times sweeter than aspartame, depending upon its application.

The FDA said it reviewed data on neotame from more than 113 animal and human studies designed to look for cancer-causing, reproductive or neurological effects. From its evaluation of the neotame database, the panel concluded that neotame is safe for human consumption.

The average American consumes the equivalent of 20 teaspoons of sugar a day. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends choosing beverages and foods to moderate intake of sugars. Heller says many people turn to artificial sweeteners because the sugar substitutes contain no calories and are found in almost everything from soda to gum.

According to a 1998 survey by the Calorie Control Council, 144 million American adults regularly consume low-calorie, sugar-free products such as artificially sweetened sodas and desserts. The FDA has approved five sugar substitutes — neotame, saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame-K, and sucralose — for use in a variety of foods.

The best way to incorporate artificial sweeteners into diets is to take a look at the big picture first, Heller says. If the goal is to lose weight, it is better to cut back on the calories being consumed. The amount from sugars in soda may be insignificant when compared to the amount of calories from fat or sugars from other sources.

In other words, if you're eating a cheeseburger and fries and drinking a diet soda, you're probably on the wrong track.

If you are the kind of person who drinks a lot of soda every day, then artificial sweeteners probably make sense. But the idea is to cut back on your intake, not to use the sweetener as a feel-good crutch or an excuse to eat more of something else.

People, such as diabetics, who need to moderate their glucose levels for health reasons can benefit greatly from artificial sweeteners, but generally it is not a healthy idea to cut out sugars from your diet completely, Heller says. Sugar metabolizes into glucose, which is what the body burns for energy.

Other "natural" sweeteners are available, but these are variations of table sugar and contain about the same amount of calories. These products include honey, molasses, evaporated cane juice, rice syrup, barley malt, and fructose.

THE SWEET LIST

Heller describes the following artificial sweeteners:

Saccharin
Discovered in 1879, it was used during both World Wars to sweeten foods. Saccharin is 300 times sweeter than sugar, but has a slightly bitter or metallic aftertaste. It is not metabolized in the digestive tract and is excreted in the urine. As a result, saccharin does not contribute calories to the diet.

Saccharin can be used in both hot and cold foods. After some research found that large amounts of saccharin may cause cancer in rats, it was banned in the 1970s. The ban was withdrawn in 1991 since no human studies ever found a problem with saccharin. Saccharin is used in Sweet 'N Low and Sweet 10.

Aspartame
Sold under trade names such as NutraSweet and Equal, aspartame was discovered in 1969 and was approved by the FDA for use in foods in 1981. It is 180 times as sweet as sugar. It does contain 4 calories per gram, but it can be used in such small amounts that no calories are added to the diet. People who have the rare disease phenylketonuria (PKU) should not eat or drink anything with aspartame. One problem with aspartame is that it loses its sweetness when heated.

Acesulfame-K
Also known as Sunette and Sweet One, acesulfame potassium has an excellent shelf life and does not break down when cooked or baked. However, the texture of baked goods is not the same with acesulfame K as with sugar. To get a good texture, you might need to add some sugar. It is 200 times sweeter than table sugar. Acesulfame K is not digested, so it contributes no calories to the diet.

Sucralose
Also known by its trade name, Splenda, sucralose is derived from table sugar but is 600 times sweeter than sugar. t is not recognized by the body as a sugar or as a carbohydrate and has no calories. It can be used in cooking and baking and is often found combined with other sweeteners.