What is
Acesulfame potassium?
Acesulfame potassium is a non-caloric sweetener with a clean, quickly perceptible
sweet taste. Its excellent stability under high temperatures and good solubility make
acesulfame potassium suitable for numerous products.
Discovered in
1967 by Hoechst AG, acesulfame potassium (also known as acesulfame K) is a high-intensity,
non-caloric sweetener. It is approximately 200 times sweeter than sucrose. Acesulfame K
has a clean, quickly perceptible, sweet taste that does not linger or leave an aftertaste.
Acesulfame K is not metabolized by the body and is excreted unchanged. It is sold under
the brand name Sunett™ by Nutrinova, Inc., a Celanese Americas Corporation
subsidiary.
Acesulfame K is
currently used in thousands of foods, beverages, oral hygiene, and pharmaceutical products
in about 90 countries. Among these are tabletop sweeteners, desserts, puddings, baked
goods, soft drinks, candies, and canned foods.
In the United
States, acesulfame K is approved for use in numerous products including chewing gum, dry
beverage mixes, dry dessert mixes, dry dairy analog bases, tabletop sweeteners,
confections, soft candy, hard candy (including breath mints, cough drops and lozenges),
baked goods, dairy products, carbonated beverages and alcoholic beverages.
BENEFITS
Helps Reduce
Calories - Since acesulfame K is not metabolized, it contributes no calories. By
substituting acesulfame K for sugar in foods and beverages, calories can be reduced
substantially, or, in some products, practically eliminated.
Remains
Stable Under High Temperatures - The sweet taste of acesulfame K remains unchanged
during baking. Even at oven temperatures over 200șC, acesulfame K shows no indications of
breaking down or losing its sweet taste. Beverages containing acesulfame K also can be
pasteurized under normal pasteurizing conditions without loss of sweetness.
Excellent
Shelf Life - Acesulfame K has a high degree of stability over a wide range of pH and
temperature storage conditions.
Tastes Sweet
and Clean - Acesulfame K has a clean, quickly perceptible sweet taste that does not
linger. Acesulfame K generally does not exhibit any off-taste in foods and soft drinks.
Synergistic
- Acesulfame K can provide a synergistic sweetening effect when combined with other
non-nutritive sweeteners.
Does Not
Promote Tooth Decay - Acesulfame K does not contribute to dental caries.
Useful in
Diabetic Diets - Studies have shown that acesulfame K has no effect on serum glucose,
cholesterol, or triglycerides. People with diabetes may incorporate products containing
acesulfame K into their balanced diet.
SAFETY
More than 90
studies have demonstrated the safety of acesulfame K. The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration permitted the use of acesulfame K after evaluating numerous studies and
determining it is safe for its intended use.
The FDA has set
an acceptable daily intake (ADI) for acesulfame K of 15 milligrams per kilogram of body
weight. ADI, expressed in terms of body weight, is the amount of a food additive that can
be taken daily in the diet over a lifetime without risk. FDA's ADI for acesulfame K is
equivalent to a 132-pound person eating 143 pounds of sugar annually (i.e., more than the
average person consumes of all sugar and corn sweeteners combined).
The FDA
approved acesulfame K for use in liquid non-alcoholic beverages (soft drinks) on July 6,
1998. FDA has reaffirmed acesulfame K's safety on eight separate occasions by broadening
its approval.
The Joint
Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), the scientific advisory body to the World
Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
reviewed the available research on acesulfame K and concluded that it is safe. JECFA has
also established an ADI of 15 mg/kg of body weight.
The Scientific
Committee for Food of the European Union published a comprehensive assessment of
sweetening agents in 1985. This committee of toxicological experts from the EU member
countries accepted acesulfame K for use in foods and beverages. Acesulfame K has been used
in Europe since 1983 and in the U.S. since 1988, with no known documented adverse health
effects.
MULTIPLE
INGREDIENT APPROACH TO CALORIE CONTROL
Americans
continually are searching for good-tasting, low-calorie products to consume as part of an
overall healthy lifestyle. Recent surveys continue to show that calorie-conscious
consumers want additional low-calorie foods and beverages.
The development
and approval of a variety of safe low-calorie sweeteners, fat substitutes, and other
low-calorie ingredients is helping to meet this demand. The availability of several
low-calorie ingredients allows food manufacturers to choose the most appropriate
ingredient, or combination of ingredients, for a given product. When acesulfame K is
combined with other low-calorie sweeteners, they enhance each other so that the
combinations are sweeter than the sum of the individual sweeteners with significantly
improved taste profiles.
FUTURE
Testing of
acesulfame K has shown good performance in juices, fruit preparations, and dairy products.
It is also an excellent sweetener for use in baked goods, a market that has great
potential for low-calorie sweeteners, and is well suited for use in toothpaste,
mouthwashes, and pharmaceuticals.
Acesulfame K's
good taste, stability, and solubility make it suitable for numerous products. The
availability of a variety of low-calorie sweeteners will expand the market to provide
products with improved taste, increased stability, lower manufacturing costs, and,
ultimately, more choices for the consumer.
REFERENCES
*** Information
provided courtesy of the Calorie Control Council.
