All you ever wanted to know about sugar substitutes

[Guest guest]

A Spoonful of Sweeteners

By Sally Squires

The role that added sugars play in the obesity epidemic has been the

subject of heated debate by scientists worldwide, from the World Health

Organization to the recent meeting of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory

Committee.

While researchers, politicians and the food industry argue over the

waistline impact of consuming soft drinks, candy and other popular foods

with added sweeteners, there is, of course, another option: sugar

substitutes.

Some 80 percent of adults -- 163 million Americans -- use low-calorie and

sugar-free foods and beverages, according to a national survey conducted by

the Calorie Control Council, a sugar-substitute industry group based in

Atlanta. Roughly two of three people report consuming sugar substitutes

several times a week or more in everything from chewing gum and powdered

drinks to " lite " yogurts, puddings and ice cream.

Consumption may soon rise even higher. Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi have

announced development of new soft drinks, sweetened with a blend of sugar

substitutes and corn syrup sweetener to reduce calories and carbohydrates

while preserving taste. Coke's C2 and Pepsi Edge are scheduled to start

hitting grocery shelves and vending machines this week.

So are sugar substitutes a good thing?

" The calorie savings can be pretty big for people who are high-end sugar

users, " said Duffy, associate professor of allied health at the

University of Connecticut in Storrs and co-author of a position paper on

artificial sweeteners for the American Dietetics Association. Peer-reviewed

and published in February, it concludes that " consumers can safely enjoy a

range of nutritive and nonnutritive sweeteners " as part of healthy diet.

A teaspoon of sugar has about 16 calories, compared with one calorie or

less for an equivalently sweet amount of most sugar substitutes.

But the taste often falls short because sugar substitutes fail " to mimic

the sensory properties of table sugar, " notes Duffy, who has no industry

ties. Many substitutes also degrade at high temperatures, making them

unacceptable for use in cooked foods or baked goods. For that reason, food

and beverage companies are constantly experimenting to find the perfect

recipe of blended artificial sweeteners.

Not everyone thinks that sugar substitutes are always a good thing. " Look

at them individually, " said son, director of the Center for

Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a Washington-based consumer group.

" Ask how well they are tested and what kind of problems might occur. " (More

on that below.)

For consumers, the big question, according to Duffy, is, " What do you

really like to eat? " Sugar substitutes can trim calories from sugary food

and drink. But just because food or drink is sweetened with a substitute

doesn't necessarily mean it is low in calories. A lot of artificially

sweetened ice cream, for example, has nearly as many calories as the

sugar-sweetened stuff because it's loaded with fat. Nor does it make much

sense, Duffy noted, " to have a Diet Coke with your second piece of cake. " •

How Sweet They Are (Comparison of the different artificial sweetners)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/daily/graphics/sweet_060804.htm?

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