Editorial :
Suvardhan Kanchi, Ayyappa Bathinapatla and Krishna Bisetty Human beings are born liking the
sensation of sweetness. In nature, a number of food ingredients have sweetening
features, and this sweetening property mainly varies with the change in the
food system, temperature, physical state and presence of other flavors. These
food ingredients stimulate the sweet sensation by interacting with the sweet
taste receptors (buds) in mouth and throat. The materials which can shows
sweetness is mainly divided into two types (i) Nutritive sweeteners and
(ii) Non-nutritive sweeteners (Artificial sweeteners).
Nutritive sweeteners provide a sweet taste with addition of energy and
non-nutritive sweeteners provides a sweet taste without any addition of energy.
The main nutritive sweeteners include glucose, crystalline fructose, dextrose,
corn sweeteners, honey, lactose, maltose, invert sugars, concentrated fruit
juice, refined sugars, high fructose corn syrup and various syrups etc. On the
other hand main non-nutritive or artificial sweeteners are again divided into
three types based on the generation as first generation artificial sweeteners which
includes saccharin, cyclamate and glycyirizzin introduced in 1950s and second
generation artificial sweeteners are aspartame, acesulfame-K, thaumatin and
neohesperidine dihydrochalcone. Neotame, sucralose, alitame and steviol glycosides falls under
third generation artificial sweeteners [1]. Artificial sweeteners are again
classified into three types: (i) synthetic (saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, acesulfame-K,
neotame, sucralose, alitame) (ii) semi-synthetic (Neohesperidine dihydrochalcone)
and (iii) natural sweeteners (steviol glycosides, mogrosides and brazzein
protein) [2]. Polyols are other group of reduced-calorie sweeteners, which are
provides bulk of sweetness but fewer calories than sugars. Polyols are used in a
wide variety of food products, including chewing gums, confections, ice creams,
toothpastes, mouthwashes, pharmaceuticals, and baked goods. The commonly used
polyols are: erythritol, mannitol, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, xylitol,
sorbitol and hydrogenated starch hydrolysates [3]. Among all the known artificial
sweeteners, very few are allowed to use in food industries. The use of
artificial sweeteners varies from country to country, for example eight
authorized artificial
sweeteners allowed to use in European Union (EU) (acesulfame-K, aspartame,
cyclamate, neotame, neohesperidine dihydrochalcone, saccharin, steviol
glycosides and sucralose). Where as in United States Food and Drug
Administration and in Japan cyclamate, neohesperidine dihydrochalcone, steviol
glycosides were not included in the list [4]. In Food Standards Australia and New
Zealand (FSANZ), China and Taiwan except neohesperidine dihydrochalcone remaining
all artificial sweeteners are allowed to use in their food industries [5]. Sweeteners
can be used individually or in combination with other artificial sweeteners. The
common trend in food industry is usage of mixed forms of artificial sweeteners which
is known as Sweetener blends. The main advantage of sweetener blends is to
reduce the side effects (side and bitter taste) of one sweetener in the mixture
and to enhance the overall sweetness of the system. A well-known sweetener
blend is saccharin-cyclamate (1:10), the bitterness of the saccharin cane be
masked with cyclamate and the unpleasant taste of the cyclamate can be masked
by saccharin, as a result the sweetening capability of the mixture finally
increases [6]. Similarly the bitterness taste of stevioside is masked with the
mixture of Rebaudioside A and other artificial sweeteners [7]. The safety of artificial sweeteners
is controversial due to undesirable health effects which include dermatological problems,
headaches, mood
variations, behavior changes, respiratory difficulties, seizures, allergies and cancer
[8]. Recently, the sweeteners are considered as global emerging pollutants
because the prominent concentration levels in ground water, soil, dust were
noticed [9]. Hence, considering the safety of consumer it is necessary to
control the content of artificial sweeteners in foods and beverages. Recent studies from the Natural news
finding that nearly 200,000 people per year are killed by sugar-sweetened
beverages. This information was presented at the 63rd Annual
Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology in 2014,
where they discussed how diet soft drinks can cause many of the same health
problems as sugar-sweetened drinks. Studies spanning the past 40 years have
suggested alternately that sugar-substitutes may be potentially helpful, potentially
harmful, or have unclear effects with regard to your health. New evidence, in fact,
states that people who frequently consume sugar substitutes may be at an
increased risk of excessive weight gain, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
San Antonio Heart Study made a survey on the people who took the diet beverages
over a period of seven to eight year. The interesting findings came to light
that the change in the body weight in men and women were significantly greater
than those who did not drink diet beverages. On the other hand, investigation
was carried out on the adolescents who take artificial sweeteners associated beverages.
The results says that in males and females who consumed diet beverages for two
years observed increase in body mass index and body fat percentages. In
literature different reports have been reported that consumption of diet soft
drinks may increase the risk of metabolic syndrome such as high
blood sugar level, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol
levels and heart disease, and other diseases. Current investigations say that
those who consume diet beverages may have 2-fold enhancement in the risk of
metabolic syndrome, compared with non-consumers. In a European study, the risk
for developing type 2 diabetes more than doubled for participants in the
highest quartile of diet beverage consumption, compared with non-consumers. Of
course, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption was also associated with an
increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Data from the Nurses Health Study also
indicated that risk for type 2 diabetes was amplified
in those consuming at least one diet drink or sugar-sweetened drink per day;
the same evidence was found by a European investigation into cancer and nutrition. 1. D Bahndorf, U Kienle. World
market of sugar and sweeteners (2004) International Association for Stevia
Research Leinfelden-Echterdingen. 2. V B Duffy, G H Anderson. Position
of the American dietetic association: Use of nutritive and non-nutritive
sweeteners (1998) Journal of the American Dietetic Association 98:580-587. 3. W Larry, DC Greenly. A doctors
guide to sweeteners (2003) Clinical Tearout 2. 4. Japan FFCR. Standards for use,
according to use categories. The Japan Food Chemical Research Foundation. 5. C S Chang, T S Yeh, Detection of
10 sweeteners in various foods by liquid chromatography/ tandem mass
spectrometry (2014) Journal of food and drug analysis 3:318-328. 6. A Zygler, A Wasik, J Namiesnik.
Analytical methodologies for determination of artificial sweeteners in
foodstuffs (2009) Trends in Analytical Chemistry 28:1082-1102. 7. DJ Midmore, AH Rank. A new rural
industry–stevia–to replace imported chemical sweeteners (2002) A report for
Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation RIRDC. 8. P Shankar, S Ahuja, K Sriram.
Non-nutritive sweeteners: Review and update (2013) Nutrition 29:1293–1299. 9. EY Ordonez, JB Quintana, R Rodil,
R Cela. Determination of artificial sweeteners in sewage sludge samples using
pressurized liquid extraction and liquid chromatography–tandem mass
spectrometry (2013) Journal of Chromatography A 1320:10–16. Suvardhan
K, Bathinapatla A, Bisetty K (2015) Do Artificial Sweeteners Cause Side Effects.
NMCT 101: 1-2 Nutritive
sweeteners, Artificial sweeteners, Polyols, diabetes, CancerDo Artificial Sweeteners Cause Side Effects?
Full-Text
Introduction
Side
Effects of Artificial Sweeteners
References
*Corresponding author:Kanchi S,
Department of Chemistry, Durban University of Technology, South AfricaTel:
+27-373-6008/2311, E-mail: ksuvardhan@gmail.com
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