Intakes of Intense and Bulk Sweetners in the U. K., 1987-88

Most people would confess to having a sweet tooth. However, whilst the pleasure of consuming sweetened foods goes largely undisputed, the advizability of doing so is often challenged. For example, obesity and the occurrence of dental caries have both been linked with sugar consumption, and in diabetics the consumption of conventionally sweetened foods can lead to a diabetic coma. Considerations such as these have prompted the food industry to develop a number of alternative sweeteners. This report is the result of two surveys of sweetener intakes, which generated data on the intake of the four permitted intense sweeteners (saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame-K and thaumatin) by adults and children in the general population and the four intense sweeteners and five permitteed bulk sweeteners (sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, isomalt and hydrogenated glucose syrup) by adults and children in a selected UK diabetic population. Information includes the major sources of each sweetener in the UK diet, the proportion of the populations which consumed each sweetener and the actual intakes by both the average consumer and those people who consume substantially more than the average of such foods. Additionally, an overview is given of developments in the UK market for sweeteners and sweetener-containing foods between 1983 and the time this report was compiled in 1989.