End of debate: International experts reach consensus on low-calorie or no-calorie sweeteners

The scientific journal Nutrients recently published the first Ibero-American Consensus on Low Calorie and Calorie-Free Sweeteners, prepared by more than 60 international experts. The material gathers all the information on the role of low-calorie or non-calorie sweeteners in food, its safety, regulatory measures and the nutritional aspects of its use in food and beverages as substitutes for sugar and other caloric sweeteners .

The main objective of the document, as emphasized Lluís Serra-Majem, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health and President of the Foundation for Nutritional Research (FIN), is "to provide useful information based on scientific evidence to help reduce the consumption of added sugars from food and beverages, in accordance with the recommendations proposed by the international public health authorities. "

This first Ibero-American Consensus contains the conclusions of an expert meeting held in Lisbon in July 2017, organized by the Spanish Foundation for Nutritional Research, in collaboration with With the Lusophone University of Lisbon and supported by 43 companies and foundations of food, nutrition and dietetics, medical societies, universities and European and Ibero-American research centers.

In this meeting, a total of 67 international experts from different disciplines such as nutrition and dietetics, endocrinology, public health, physical activity and sport, pediatrics, nursing , toxicology and food law badyzed the role of low calorie or low calorie sweeteners in foods.

Safety of Low Calorie Sweeteners

The safety of sweeteners is an aspect regularly badessed by many international scientific committees and regulatory bodies, such as the Joint FAO / WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (FAO / Joint Committee). WHO Expert Food Additives, JECFA) and the CODEXAlimentarius Commission (CAC) who provided favorable reports

JECFA is also responsible for defining the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of food additives and, therefore, low calorie or non-caloric sweeteners. The ADI is the amount of a food additive that can be consumed daily in the diet, depending on body weight, without causing risk, even consumed over the course of life.

The professor at the Complutense University of Madrid in Spain Arturo Anadón adds that "thanks to the rigorous regulatory framework and the toxicological requirements that exist all over the world, we can confirm that low-calorie or calorie-free sweeteners are safe additives in the diet of the general population ".

provide a sweet taste with low or zero calorie content and can be incorporated into a multitude of foods and beverages, including frozen desserts, smoothies, vegetable drinks, nectars and juice drinks, yogurt, soft drinks, cookies, chewing gum and sweets.

The labeling of foods related to food additives must meet the requirements established in each of the market areas where food products are marketed, sweeteners appear in the list of ingredients and the term sweetener also in the name of the product food. In addition, when a food or drink contains aspartame or aspartame-acesulfame salts, the product label must be marked "contains a source of phenylalanine", a particularly relevant reference for people with phenylketonuria.

Dr. Susana Socolovsky believes that "the goal is for the consumer to always be properly informed and able to recognize the presence of these ingredients in the available foods."

Role in Weight Control and Disease chronic

Low calorie or low calorie sweeteners provide a small amount or no calories. In this sense, the consensus document indicates that its use in weight control programs, used as substitutes for sucrose or simple sugars, can promote reduction in overall energy intake and weight loss.

People with diabetes, the use of these sweeteners in their control programs, can help improve their blood sugar management. Vice President of the College of Nutritionists of Chile, Samuel Durán, explains that "the consumption of food and beverages with or without calories may be an option to replace the consumption of added sugars and energy, which can be interesting for patients.

The Consensus document also states that these sweeteners may be beneficial to dental health because it has been demonstrated that the products that incorporate them can reduce the risk of tooth decay.

The consensus recommends, in the same sense that the WHO, that the consumption of added sugar contributes to a maximum of 10% of the energy intake, so that the use of Low calorie or low calorie sweeteners in the reformulation of food products could be a useful and sustainable strategy to achieve this goal

Sérgio Cunha Velho de Sousa, of the Pediatric Hospital of Coimbra University Hospital in Portugal, It states that "sugars in food have other functions than the contribution of sweet taste, so it is not always possible to eliminate or replace them without affecting their quality and stability" .

the need to provide the consumer with access to rigorous and quality information that is transparent and easy to understand by the general public. Dr. Tommaso Bochicchio, professor of nephrology at the Faculty of Medicine at the La Salle University of Mexico, explains that "continuing education of health professionals is necessary because they are a source of reference information for both the general population and the patients. "

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