NEW FOCUS ON ASPARTAME-SAFETY ISSUE RESURRECTED

Amongst all the synthetic sweeteners Aspartame has been able to capture substantial market till recently because of its inherent properties to satisfy consumers regarding its efficacy in simulating taste of natural sugar and its relatively low cost. Its major competitor Sucralose, though sweeter by three times, costs 10 times more making the industry opt for the former. However use of Aspartame, permitted in all foods in countries like the US, is self-limiting because it is stable only at a pH of about 4.3 and its major is restricted to soft drinks with pH range between 3 and 5. It is also unstable under alkaline conditions and at high temperatures making it an unsuitable candidate for use by the bakery industry. At a pH of 7 the half life of Aspartame is hardly a few days while at pH 4.3 it can be as high as 300 days.

Though Aspartame was discovered as early as 1965, its widespread use became common from 1996 onwards with the USFDA clearing it for use in all food products. This makes sense because it cannot be used in many products because of pH conditions and temperature of processing. Still it is believed that over 6000 products contain Aspartame singly or in admixture with Saccharine or Acesulfame in about 90 countries in the world. Relatively high ADI of 50 mg per kg body weight for adults make it suitable for many products and generally an average consumer takes less than 10% of the ADI through products containing this synthetic sweetener. As such there ought not to be any safety scare while using Aspartame by the food processing industry.

One of the serious apprehensions while using Aspartame as a sweetener is its break down products that may accumulate in products standing on the retail shelf for long or others which have undergone severe processing conditions. The artifacts in such products include Phenylalanine and Methanol. While Phenylalanine may pose heath risks for consumers with the genetic disorder Phenylketonuria, Methanol is a toxic substance considered highly harmful beyond a certain concentration. Of course suitable label declaration can forewarn consumers suffering from Phenylketonuria regarding the potential harmful effect it can have on them but presence of Methanol evokes fears about its likely impact on health. What is not realized in this debate is that concentration of Methanol that can cause injury has to be much higher than what is generated in products containing Aspartame. Added to this human blood, urine, saliva and exhaled air do contain methanol and many fruits have methanol as a natural constituent.

A recent controversy regarding the safety of consuming a particular diet drink from a beverage major containing Aspartame has brought back the memories of earlier skirmishes between pro and anti Aspartame lobbies during nineteen eighties and nineties. Though it has some political and economic implications, EU is not taking any chance and has undertaken urgent review of the safety of Aspartame in the light of some new studies linking its consumption to premature births and cancer. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA), have categorically ruled out any link between Aspartame and any health disorder.

The focus has been on the likely toxic effect of Methanol, a nerve toxin, generated in the products on human health as formic acid and formaldehyde are formed when Methanol is metabolized in the body and these metabolites are also strong nerve toxins. According to a most recent medical review "weight of the existing scientific evidence indicates that Aspartame is safe at current levels of consumption as a non-nutritive sweetener". Of course there could be many non-believers in such assertions because of the enormous economic stake the Aspartame manufacturing industry has in safe guarding its interests. One can only hope that the review being undertaken by EU which can be expected to bring out a balanced conclusion, will settle this issue once for all.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ASPARTAME SAFETY-A CONTROVERSY REVISITED

Whether one likes it or not artificial sweeteners are here to stay as an ingredient in many consumer food products because there are millions of people who have restrictions regarding intake of natural sugars either for medical reasons or for weight control. The question of selection of a particular non calorie sweetener is difficult because each one available to day has one or the other drawback as none is considered absolutely satisfactory. Consumer is further confounded by claims and counter claims by different brands regarding the virtue of their products. Amongst the sweeteners which have been established as acceptable with adequate safety credentials, Aspartame was predominantly in use till the year 2004 and more recently Sucralose and Stevia glycosides are in the lime light because of their perceived superiority and cost considerations.

Aspartame, discovered by G D Searle and Company in 1965 had a turbulent history before becoming universally accepted as a sugar substitute till recently. It is the methyl ester of aspartic acid/phenyl alanine dipeptide and got its first approval in 1975 and to day it is considered safe in more than 90 countries. It is 200 times sweeter than sucrose and both Sucralose and Stevia score over it in terms of intensity of sweetness. Under continuous attack from critics on safety issues, it was subjected to hundreds of safety studies and most recently it was declared safe again in 2007. Besides the stability of Aspartame under high temperature or under acidic and alkaline media is not considered adequate for application in many foods though there are more than 6000 consumer food products in the market containing this sweetener. After the expiry of its patent protection in 1994, there are more producers of Aspartame, most prominent being the Ajinomoto Company which enjoys a market share of 40% out of a total world production of 15000 tons.

The controversy regarding the safety refuses to die down and no matter how much scientific evidence is generated there will always be skeptics who do not want to believe the claims, probably out of too much concerns for their own health. How ever keeping the controversy alive can be harmful to the product as is evidenced by some sustained legal and other obstructions against Aspartame. This has of course added to general concerns over artificial sweeteners and fed growing interest in natural ingredients, including Stevia, which comes from a plant native to South America. Stevia has been used in food and drink products sold in markets in Asia and South America for decades but industry recognition of the ingredient has grown since the FDA cleared its use in the US in 2008. The food and drinks sector is awaiting full EU clearance, although France has given its approval under a rule that allows a member state to give a temporary, two-year green light to an ingredient.

Stevia has to go a long way to catch up or replace Aspartame though giants like Cargill have joined the Stevia club to corner significant share of global sweetener sales. It is estimated that out of a world business of $ 350 million in artificial sweeteners, Aspartame has a share of 27% while Stevia sales were just $79m, or 6% of the market. If Stevia and Sucralose become more attractive choices, Aspartame market is bound to slide go down progressively, especially because of the on-going controversies vis-à-vis its safety. Given the choice, the safety of the sweeteners being not an issue, users may increasingly prefer Stevia and Sucralose as their sweetener intensity is much higher than Aspartame while the unit cost is almost same. With large mega players like Cargill entering Stevia business the sugar substitute business is bound to heat up in the coming years and if competition can bring down the prices, consumer will be the happiest lot! Natural sugar, be it from Sugarcane or Sugar beets may see its role increasingly being marginalized because of the plethora of health disorders attributed to its consumption.

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com