Sweeteners

Sugar substitutes in food additives can be either natural or synthetic. Generally, those that are not natural are referred to as artificial sweeteners. There are five non-nutritive sweeteners approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the United States as of 2007. They are saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame potassium (or acesulfame-K), sucralose, and neotame. While the natural sugar substitute commonly used is stevia. The leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana plant have a refreshing taste, with zero glycemic index, zero calories, and zero carbohydrates. The active compounds in stevia are steviol glycosides, which can be up to 150 times sweeter than sugar. Eurofins Angler Biochemlab offer synthetic and natural sweetener testing use LC-MS/MS and HPLC instruments to ensure high accuracy and precision.