FDA Approves new sugar substitute

[Guest guest]

Following is the article verbatim that appeared in the Youngstown Vindicator

last week:

Neotame, a non-nutrititive sweetener said to be 7,000 to 13,000 times

sweeter than sugar, has been approved for marketing as an additive in

candies, soft drinks and some other products, the Food and Drug

administration announced Friday.

Neotame is a non-nutritive crystalline powder that dissolves in water and

can be used as a mealtime sweetener or added to recipes, the FDA said.

FDA officials said neotame has " negligible if any calories, " but it is

unknown if it will meet the agency's technical requirements to be labeled as

is aspartame, as having zero calories.

It has been approved for use in baked goods, nonalcoholic beverages, chewing

gum, confections, frozen desserts, gelatins and puddings, jams, jellies,

fruit, juices, toppings, and syrups.

Neotame was approved after the FDA reviewed more than 113 animal and human

studies, some of which were designed to detect any cancer-causing,

reproductive, or neurological effects. The agency said it concluded from the

studies that neotame was safe for human consumption.

Neotame is manufactured by NutraSweet Co. of Mount Prospect, Ill.

Dr. Alan Rulif of the FDA said that neotame is chemically similar to

aspartame, a sweetener already said by NutraSweet, but that the two

sweeteners are broken down into different molecules in the human digestive

system.

Neotame is 20 to 30 times sweeter than aspartame, and it is stable enough to

be used in cooking, Rulif said. Neotame is the fifth non-nutritive sugar

substitute approved by the FDA.

Unlike aspartame, neotame will not carry a warning for people with

phenylketonuria, or PKU. This is an inherited disorder of metabolism that

allows an excess accumulation in the blood of phenylalanine, an amino acid.

Products that may aggravate the condition are required to carry a PKU

warning.

Representatives of NutraSweet Co. cound not be reached by telephone for

comment.

So this joins saccharine, aspartame, Splenda and what other non nutritive

sweetener? I don't know what products it will be in but we should find out

soon I would think. This should help people that may be allergic to

aspartame or saccharine or don't like Splenda. They have another choice.

Rasley

mailto:drasley@...

BTC, Columbus, 10/7/98

Lost over 90% of excess and maintaining

Gained a beautiful daughter on 8/9/00