Sweeteners are substances added in a food substance or a beverage other than sugar to enhance the sweetness of the final product. They are classified into two main groups: natural and artificial sweeteners. Natural sweeteners commonly used in food and drinks are honey, sucrose, coconut sugar, high fructose corn syrup, molasses, and nectar. C ommonly used synthetic sweeteners are acesulfame K, saccharin, aspartame, xylitol, cyclamates , advantame, aspartame-acesulfame salt , neotame, neohesperidin, sucralose, and thaumatin (Stoker, 2012, p. 590).
In sweetness comparison, saccharine, which is an artificial sweetener, is 300 times sweeter than sucrose. Depending on the concentrations and the type of food in which it is used, saccharin, unlike sucrose, has a slow onset of sweetness that increases to a maximum and then persists. Foods that contain sucrose include puddings, milkshakes, cakes, fruit juice drinks, cookies, pancakes, candies, chocolate, and commercial cereals. Foods that have saccharin include salad dressings, jelly, candy, chewing gum, baked foods, canned fruit, dessert toppings, and jams. Natural sweeteners are generally sweet and have a nourishing impact on the final product's flavors despite being less sweet compared to the artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners such as saccharin have a bitter taste when used in some drinks, making them unpalatable.
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The effectiveness and safety of artificial sweeteners have been raising concerns since they are believed to have several health effects, such as cancer cells in humans. They are also nonnutritive and have no calories, thus considered less important to the human body (Stoker, 2012, p. 590). On the contrary, natural sweeteners have a high nutritive value.
Reference
Stoker, H. S. (2012). General, organic, and biological chemistry . Cengage Learning.
