Sweet talk – low-calorie sugar alternatives

In the developed world, there are serious societal challenges caused by exploding rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes. What is your view of these issues and how successful are countries in address these epidemics?
ISA: The scale of these problems is quite shocking. According to the OECD and World Health Organization, more than half (52%) of the adult population in the European Union is overweight or obese and the number of obese people worldwide has nearly doubled since 1980.

Being obese increases the chance of a range of disease, including type 2 diabetes. The International Diabetes Federation estimates that by 2030, one in every ten people will have diabetes. Type 2 diabetes and other non-communicable diseases linked with obesity can lead to premature death and can have a profound effect on quality of life.

In spite of the fact that there is a tidal wave of information and education about the importance of a balanced diet and exercise, obesity and linked health concerns remains a major issue.

More can be done to address these issues, but all actors have a role to play. Sharing information and ideas on how best to address these challenges is the key. We must provide the information as a clear and simple message to empower people to make change.

The International Sweeteners Association (ISA) believes that low-calorie sweeteners can play an important role in helping to address problems such as obesity and type 2 diabetes - and type 1 too, of course - by empowering people to make choices to change their lifestyles that will help them improve health and well-being.

What are the alternatives to sugar and why should manufacturers consider these options?
Today, there is a much broader range of choice when it comes to approximating the sweetness of sugar. The profile of sweetness, and the lingering sweetness and blends, has been refined to the point where low-calorie sweeteners now offer a whole range of options for creating sweetness in foods and beverages.

It is well documented that small changes to diet and lifestyle can have a huge impact on health. For example, foods that include low-calorie sweeteners as an alternative to sugar, fat and salt can help reduce weight.

Because low-calorie sweeteners provide all the sweetness of sugar and have the added value of having significantly fewer calories, they can help people achieve a healthy weight and maintain an optimal weight range.

A study published in the journal Obesity in May 2014 confirms a strong body of evidence that low and no-calorie sweetened beverages, when used consistently, are a reliable option to help people lose weight.

The study led by researcher James O Hill, professor of paediatrics and medicine at the University of Colorado, US, found that people who drank diet beverages as part of an overall weight-loss programme were able to lose weight successfully. The study shows that people who consumed diet beverages lost an average of 13lb (5.9kg) - 44% more than the control group, which lost an average of 9lb (4.1kg).

From this scientific information, manufacturers can conclude that by choosing low-calorie sweeteners as an alternative to sugar, they can provide the same great-tasting products with fewer calories and provide consumers with a broader range of choice.

Are people who consumer LCS less likely to crave sugary foods and over-consume food?
Research indicates that people's preference for sweet tastes is something that we are born with. However, this innate propensity for sweet tastes doesn't mean having to give up the sweet flavours that people enjoy.

Low-calorie sweeteners can be a useful tool in managing our strong innate desire for sweet says evidence presented in research entitled, 'Can Humans Do Without Sweetness?' by Dr France Bellisle, researcher at the Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, University Paris 13, in France.

Bellisle's research, published in October 2014, suggests that people who include low-calorie sweeteners in their diet are less likely to crave and over-consume sugary foods. Generally, they also eat healthier, lower-calorie diets overall including more whole grains, fruit and vegetables, and low-fat dairy products.

Based on the evidence, low-calorie sweetened foods and beverages can satisfy a natural desire for sweetness, so people don't look for it elsewhere in the form of sugary foods. Replacing sugar with low-calorie sweeteners leads to a decreased or unchanged sensation of hunger in the short term (meal to meal).

Short-term hunger is most strongly affected by volume and fibre; drinking non-caloric or reduced-calorie liquids and eating high-fibre foods has been proven to be the best way to reduce hunger between meals.

In 2013, Dr Adam Drewnowski of the University of Michigan (Nutrition Reviews), reviewed numerous studies that have investigated this question and reported that there is no evidence that the addition of sweet taste is a stimulus to hunger or the desire to eat, and although low-calorie sweeteners are not appetite suppressants, their ability to increase the palatability of low-calorie foods may actually contribute to a person's ability to stick to a low-calorie diet.

A recent scientific study carried out by the Weizmann Institute of Science and other research centres in Israel warned that saccharin "could promote diabetes". It suggests that saccharin could alter bacteria in the gut and ultimately change the way the body deals with sugars leading to glucose intolerance. While the scope of the research was limited, do low-calorie sweeteners potentially pose a risk to health?
The ISA strongly refutes these claims. The extrapolation of the results in the study to the low-calorie sweeteners aspartame, sucralose and saccharin, misrepresent the work actually carried out. These three sweeteners are chemically very different and their physiological behaviour is also distinct; they cannot therefore scientifically lead to the same metabolic effects.

As Professor Gérard Pascal, member of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and former president of the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Food, has pointed out: "The authors' hypothesis is that most sweeteners are not digested and encounter gut microbiota, but this, for example, is completely false in the case of aspartame. In the intestine, the aspartame molecule splits into two amino acids (aspartic acid and phenylalanine) and methanol. The amino acids are then metabolised in the body and do not alter the gut microbiota."
The authors of the study failed to take into account the broad body of scientific evidence that clearly demonstrates that low-calorie sweeteners are not associated with an increased risk of obesity and diabetes as they do not have an effect on appetite, blood glucose levels or weight gain.

Low-calorie foods and beverages make a useful contribution to a healthy, balanced diet. Furthermore, the study was carried out on mice, which do not have the same metabolic or physiology as humans. Therefore, it can only be reasonably concluded that the results are inconclusive and invalid.

The general public has been misled into believing that low-calorie sweeteners are bad for their health, which is in fact contrary to the truth. Stringent scientific standards are applied to ensure that low-calorie sweeteners, along with all ingredients - that are approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) - meet with the highest European standards for health and safety, and this opinion is shared by food safety authorities around the globe.

What positive health benefits are connected with consuming low-calorie sweeteners?
Low-calorie sweeteners offer calorie-smart choices and a great taste. They can provide weight-conscious and calorie-conscious consumers with products that satisfy their desire for sweet pleasure without calories.

Low-calorie sweeteners have also been shown to play a useful role in preventing obesity and reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Low-calorie sweeteners are beneficial in the management of and the reduction of dental caries (tooth decay) because they reduce the risk of oral bacteria, a leading cause of tooth decay and other more serious diseases.

How have food manufacturers embraced low-calorie sweeteners as a potentially revolutionary ingredient?
Today's diets and food production have changed and, thanks to these advances, people now have greater choices when it comes to enjoying preferences for sweetness. Ironically, 70% of low-calorie sweetener product users are not on a diet. These 'non-dieters' use low-calorie products as an integral part of a healthy lifestyle.
Innovations in the areas of low-calorie sweeteners are interesting to manufacturers; however, the full potential of these ingredients is yet to be realised.

Low-calorie sweetened options are a complement to sugar blends and have the same great taste but fewer calories. Low-calorie sweeteners offer manufacturers much more choice when it comes to diversifying products options for customers.