People’s preference for sweetness is innate. Babies will smile after tasting sweetness on the first day after birth. How can we satisfy people's preference for sweetness without consuming too much sugar? This is an important issue especially for people who need to control sugar intake. Sweeteners, as food additives that impart sweetness to food, provide a viable option for these people. Due to their high sweetness, low or no energy, stable technological performance, and high safety, sweeteners have been increasingly used in food and beverages in many countries and regions over the past 100 years. , various "low-sugar", "sugar-free" and even "zero sugar" food drinks have become the new favorites in the food industry.
Regarding the labeling of sugar content on packaged foods and beverages, my country's national food safety standards have strict definitions. According to the requirements of "GBZ21922-2008 Basic Terminology of Food Nutritional Ingredients", the concept of "sugar" on food packaging includes all monosaccharides and disaccharides, such as glucose , fructose , sucrose and maltose. , neither “sugar” in the broad sense, which means carbohydrates, nor “sugar” in the narrow sense, which means sucrose. Therefore, "0 sugar" and "0 sucrose" are different.
The main ingredients in white sugar, rock sugar and brown sugar that are commonly seen in life, as well as coarse sugar such as table sugar, brown sugar and black sugar, are actually sucrose; the ingredients of honey are more complex, in addition to lactose and galactose, Honey is basically a hodgepodge of monosaccharides and disaccharides, mainly fructose and glucose, mixed with a little maltose and sucrose; fructose syrup is a mixture of sugars made from methyl starch, except water. The main ingredients are fructose and glucose.
According to the definitions of "sugar-free" and "low-sugar" in the "GB 28050-2011 National Food Safety Standard General Principles for Nutritional Labeling of Prepackaged Foods", when mono and disaccharides in food or beverages contain ᰁ≤0.5 g/100g (solid) or 100ml (liquid), it can be labeled as "sugar-free", "sugar-free" or "0 sugar"; but when the monosaccharide and disaccharide content in the food has not yet reached the sugar-free standard , but if it contains ≤5g/100g (solid) or 100ml (liquid), the food or drink can be labeled as "low sugar".
In order to maintain a sweet taste and at the same time cater to consumers’ “sugar-free” and “low-sugar” consumption needs, merchants will choose to use sugar substitutes or sweeteners to replace some or all of the added sugar in food recipes. . Low/zero calorie sweeteners are ingredients added to foods and beverages to provide sweetness and provide few to zero calories. The sweeteners currently approved by the state for commercial use include saccharin sodium, acesulfame potassium, cyclamate, aspartame, sucralose and stevia glycosides. In addition, there are also other sweeteners in the name. Sweeteners that contain “sugar” but are not sugar, such as sugar alcohols such as myritol, manritol, thyritol, and maltitol, are also sweeteners, and they provide consumers with reduced A way to consume sugar without sacrificing sweetness. From the original saccharin sodium to the current various sugar alcohols, due to consumers' preference for the original raw materials of sweeteners, the choice of sweeteners is increasingly inclined to ingredients close to natural monosaccharides and disaccharides, such as maltitol. etc., but in fact, as long as the sweeteners are added in strict compliance with national food safety standards in terms of type and agent, they are safe for human health and there is no need to be particularly worried. In particular, sugar alcohols, which have a similar structure to natural sugars, are currently on the permitted use list and are very safe. Low/zero-calorie sweeteners provide us with a simple way to reduce dietary energy and sugar levels without affecting people's enjoyment of sweetened foods and beverages. Numerous scientific publications broadly address the nutritional benefits of low/zero calorie sweeteners, such as oral health, low glycemic and insulin response, weight management , all due to their low or no Cariogenic, more slowly or incompletely absorbed from the intestine.
sweeteners are widely used in more than 100 countries and regions including the United States, the European Union and China, and some varieties have been used for more than 100 years.The safety of sweeteners has been recognized by international food safety agencies, including the Codex International Food Safety Commission, the European Food Safety Authority, the United States Food and Drug Administration, the Australian New Zealand Food Standards Agency, and the Canadian Food Standards Agency. The conclusion of the scientific evaluation of approved sweeteners by the Ministry of Health and other agencies is that sweeteners will not cause harm to human health when used in accordance with relevant regulations and standards. Take maltitol as an example. This is a sugar alcohol obtained by hydrogenating maltose. When used in food, it can produce the same sweetness as sucrose. However, due to its chemical structure, it is different from sucrose and maltose. They are all different, so they will not cause drastic fluctuations in blood sugar and insulin like sucrose or maltose, nor will they produce as many calories as digestible carbohydrates, which are important for controlling weight gain and stabilizing Blood sugar levels have certain positive effects. In addition, due to the change in chemical properties after hydrogenation, maltitol will not be fermented by bacteria to produce acid. In particular, it will not be used by bacteria in the oral cavity to produce acidic substances that corrode enamel, so it will not Like sucrose, it causes caries and has a certain anti-caries effect. Moreover, according to the "GB 2760-2007 Hygienic Standard for the Use of Food Additives", there is no upper limit for the amount of thylitol added to foods such as candy, bread, pastries and biscuits. restrictions, the security of its use can be seen. In 1964, Japan began the industrial production of maltitol, and maltitol has been commercialized in Europe, the United States and other countries for many years. The FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives does not set limits on their maximum allowable daily intake ADI values. Many countries such as France, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Australia, Japan and the United States have approved the use of maltitol in food. . It can be seen that its safety is recognized worldwide.
