Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
10.3 SteVIOL GLYCOSIDe SWeeteNerS
In2007,theJECFAestablishedspeciicationsforsteviolglycosidesweeteners,callingforthem
toconsistofatleast95%ofthesevennamedsteviolglycosidesweeteners(Carakostasetal.2008).
10.3.1 toxicology
Thetoxicologicalpropertiesofartiicialsweetenersarewellstudiedandshowthatmicrogram
perliterquantitiesareharmlesstohumans(WeihrauchandDiehl2004).However,dataonecotoxi-
cologicalpropertiesofartiicialsweetenersarescarce.Forexample,intheEU,thereisnoobliga-
toryenvironmentalriskassessmentforartiicialsweeteners,accordingtotheEuropeanParliament
andCouncildirectiveonsweetenersforuseinfoodstuffs(1994),whichisbasedontheframework
directiveforfoodadditives(EuropeanCommission1988).Therefore,itisyetunknownwhatthe
occurrenceofthesetracepollutantsmeanstoaquaticbiocenoses.
10.4 SUGar aLCOhOLS
Allthesesweeteners,exceptformannitol,donotrepresentahazardtohealth,andtheJECFA
deemeditnotnecessarytoassignanumericalvalueforADIbutinsteadassignedthemostfavorable
term“notspeciied.”Furthermore,intheUnitedStates,theyareconsideredgenerallyrecognized
assafe(GRAS).Nevertheless,anexcessconsumptionofmannitolmayhavealaxativeeffect,and
forthisreason,theJECFAhasallocatedatemporaryADIof50mgperkg(Yebra-Biurrun2005).
FollowingtheadoptionoftheECSweetenersDirectivein1994(CommissionoftheEuropean
Communities1994)anditsimplementationintothenationallaws,memberstatesarerequiredto
establishasystemofconsumersurveystomonitoradditiveintake(EuropeanCommission1994).
Forthisreason,intakedataarerequiredthroughdevelopedandvalidatedmethodsforthedetermi-
nationofthesetwoartiicialsweeteners.
The ADI has been deined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “an estimate by the
JECFAoftheamountofafoodadditive,expressedonabodyweightbasis,thatcanbeingesteddaily
overalifetimewithoutappreciablehealthrisk”andisbasedonanevaluationofavailabletoxicologi-
caldata.Forexample,inEurope,theADIissetat9mg/kgofbodyweight/dayforACSK(Wilson
etal.1999).ForASP,thereisasafetymargineveninhigh-consumingdiabetics(Ilbäcketal.2003).
TheFDAhassettheADIforASPat50mg/kgofbodyweight/day.AnADIof40mg/kgbodyweight
perdaysetbythecommitteeofexpertsoftheFAOandtheWHOisnotlikelytobeexceeded,even
bychildrenanddiabetics.AEuropeanCommissionreportgivesatheoreticalmaximumestimatefor
adults'consumptionof21.3mg/kgbodyweightperdayofASP.However,theactualconsumption
islikelytobelower,evenforhighconsumersofASP.Thereportalsogivesreinedestimatesfor
children,whichshowtheyconsume1%-40%oftheADI.Peoplewithdiabetesarehighconsum-
ersoffoodscontainingASP;theirhighestreportedintakevariesbetween7.8and10.1mg/kgbody
weightperday.Asforhealthattheinternationallevel(JECFA),aswellasfortheUnitedStatesFood
andDrugAdministration(FDA),theADIforACSKhasbeensetat15mg/kgbodyweight.Atthe
Europeanlevelon13March2000,theADIhasbeensetat9mg/kgbodyweight(SCF).
Ingeneral,intheEU,sweetenersarethoroughlyassessedforsafetybytheEFSAbeforetheyare
authorized for use. EU Directives 94/35/EC (European Commission 1994), 96/83/EC (European
Commission1996),EuropeanCommission2003,and2006/52/EC(EuropeanCommission2006b)
deinewhichsweetenerhasbeenapprovedtobeaddedtofoodproductsandbeverages.
Currently, ACS K and ASP are used in foods, including baked goods (dry bases for mixes),
beverages(dairybeverages,instanttea,instantcoffee,andfruit-basedbeverages),softdrinks(colas,
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