Title: Alternative Sweeteners

Aspartame-Acesulfame: Twinsweet 497
and/or acesulfame released by the salt when it dissolves. Because the salt is a
fixed, equimolar ratio, this is a simple calculation.
At the time of writing, both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
and the Canadian Health Protection Branch regard the marketing of Twinsweet
as being covered by the existing regulations on aspartame and acesulfame-K.
Products containing the salt are required to declare this in their ingredient list as
‘‘aspartame-acesulfame.’’
In June 2000 the Joint WHO/FAO Expert Committee on Food Additives
(JECFA) concluded that the aspartame and acesulfame moieties in Twinsweet
are covered by the acceptable daily intake (ADI) values established previously
for aspartame and acesulfame-K. In the European Union the Scientific Committee
for Food (SCF) also concluded that the use of Twinsweet raises no additional
safety considerations. As a result the product is expected to be included in the
forthcoming amendment of Directive 94/35/EC on sweeteners for use in foodstuffs.
Regulatory clearance is being sought in numerous other countries. This
is principally a matter of administrative process, necessitated because the wording
of regulations in some countries does not encompass the concept of sweetenersweetener
salts.
IX. CONCLUSION
Aspartame-acesulfame is a sweetener-sweetener salt in which the potassium ion
of acesulfame-K has, in effect, been replaced by aspartame. The result is an
intense sweetener combination that can be produced commercially as a pure
and stable solid that possesses highly advantageous properties. Aspartameacesulfame
has a high relative sweetness, about 350 times as sweet as sucrose
in water and 400 times as sweet in pH 3.2 citrate, because it comprises only
synergistic, intensely sweet molecules and contains no significant amounts of
functionless potassium ions or moisture. It dissolves more rapidly than an equimolar
mechanical mix of aspartame and acesulfame-K, yet releases only the same
sweetening molecules as this familiar and widely accepted blend. Also in contrast
to a mixture of aspartame with acesulfame-K, the salt is remarkably immune to
moisture uptake and this, coupled with its rapid dissolution and excellent powder
flow characteristics, makes it an ideal sweetener for use in powder mixes of all
types. In addition, aspartame-acesulfame is stable in low-moisture products that
can offer a challenging environment to aspartame itself through potential reaction
with aldehyde-rich flavors. Not only is the salt resistant to these reactions in
products such as chewing gum, it is also responsible for a marked extension of
the sweetness release of gum, both effects being achieved without the need to
encapsulate the sweetener. Other low-moisture products such as confectionery,
tabletop sweeteners, sugar substitutes, pharmaceutical powders, and tablets are
also likely to benefit from the special attributes of aspartame-acesulfame. Natu-