Title: Alternative Sweeteners

4 O’Brien Nabors
III. THE MULTIPLE INGREDIENT APPROACH
The advantages of the multiple sweetener approach have long been known. A
variety of approved sweeteners are essential because no sweetener is perfect for
all uses. With several available, each sweetener can be used in the application(s)
for which it is best suited. Manufacturers also can overcome limitations of individual
sweeteners by using them in blends.
During the 1960s, cyclamate and saccharin were blended together in a variety
of popular diet soft drinks and other products. This was really the first practical
application of the multiple sweetener approach. The primary advantage of
this sweetener blend was that saccharin (300 times sweeter than sucrose) boosted
the sweetening power of cyclamate (30 times sweeter), whereas cyclamate
masked the aftertaste that some people associate with saccharin.
The two sweeteners when combined have a synergistic effect—that is the
sweetness of the combination is greater than the sum of the individual parts. This
is true for most sweetener blends. Cyclamate was the major factor in launching
the diet segment of the carbonated beverage industry. By the time it was banned
in the United States in 1970, the products and trademarks had been well established.
Such a large market for diet beverages provided a tremendous incentive
to develop new sweeteners.
After cyclamate was taken off the market in 1970, saccharin was the
only available low-calorie alternative to sugar available in the United States
for more than a decade. But now with the availability of acesulfame potassium,
aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin, the multiple sweetener approach is a visible
reality in the United States. Fountain soft drinks generally contain a combination
of saccharin and aspartame and bottled drinks are available with combinations
of aspartame and acesulfame K, as well as sucralose and aspartame.
Triple blends, such as acesulfame potassium, aspartame, and saccharin and aspartame,
cyclamate, and acesulfame potassium are being used in some parts of the
world.
The polyols also are important adjuncts to sugar-free product development.
These sweeteners provide the bulk of sugar but are generally less sweet than
sucrose. The polyols, which are reduced in calories, combine well (e.g., they
are synergistic) with low-calorie sweeteners, resulting in good-tasting reducedcalorie
products that are similar to their traditional counterparts.
With the availability of fat replacers and low-calorie bulking agents (e.g.,
polydextrose), not just a multiple sweetener approach but a multiple ingredient
approach to calorie control is being used. In addition to the evidence that humans
have an innate desire for sweets (3), research indicates that the obese and those
who once were obese may have a greater preference than others for fatty liquids
mixed with sugar (4). Replacing the fat and the sugar is therefore important in
the development of products to assist in calorie control.