Food Sweeteners (2.3) Flashcards
What do nutritive sweeteners include?
Sugars and corn-syrup
What do nutritive sweeteners produce when metabolized?
Calories
What are non-nutritive sweeteners?
Artificial sweeteners
So non-nutritive sweeteners contain calories?
No - but still taste sweet.
What are examples of nutritive sweeteners?
- Sugars (sucrose, fructose, brown sugar, honey, HFCS)
- Sugar alcohols - nonreducing and T-stable (Sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol etc)
What are the advantages of sugar alcohols?
Similar taste
Less calories; less sweet
Metabolized differently and absorbed more slowly
What are the 5 non-nutritive sweeteners?
- Saccharin
- Aspartame
- Sucralose
- Acesulfame K
- Neotame
Describe Saccharin:
- 300 x sweeter than sugar
- unpleasant/bitter/metallic off taste
- no calories
- does not accumulate in the body
Are there health hazards to Saccharin? How should products containing it be labeled?
- Low direct toxicity ( in 200 removed from cancer causing list)
- Still required to have warning label
What is the application of saccharin?
Primarily in soft drinks + tabletop sweeteners
What is the ADI of Saccharin?
5mg/kg body weight
Describe Aspartame:
- Little calories
- 200x sweeter than sugar
- Approved in 1981
What is aspartame used in?
- Diet sodas
- Sugar free gums; candies; ice cream
Under what conditions will aspartame decompose and lose sweetness?
- with prolonged exposure to heat and or high pH. (cannot be used in baked goods/ cooked products)
What happens to aspartame during digestion?
Hydrolyzed - breaks down into natural residual components (aspartic acid, phenylalanine; methanol)
