Sweeteners: Safe or not?

When a person wants to lose weight, they begin to control the consumption of products with a high fat and sugar content and many consumers seek to replace sugar with sweeteners, reducing the amount of calories consumed, without giving up their favorite foods. Recent studies show that sugar substitutes allow the incorporation of a wide variety of “rich” foods in low-calorie diets, in addition to contributing to weight maintenance in those people who have achieved their ideal weight. In general terms, the advantages offered by artificial sweeteners are multiple:

• weight maintenance
• decrease thereof
• reduction in the risk of obesity
• diabetes treatment
• reduction of dental cavities In fact, there are multiple studies that have demonstrated the safety of these sweeteners. So much so that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the consumption of sweeteners. For its part, the Ministry of Health has also approved them for the production of foods and beverages; this in the “Agreement by which the substances permitted as additives and adjuvants are determined”, published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on December 15, 1999. However, excess consumption of artificial sweeteners can be harmful to health, which is why the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) established a safe consumption index known as the Maximum Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI), which is nothing more than the recommended daily consumption. IDA of some sweeteners:
• Saccharin 5mg/kg/day
• Aspartame 40mg/kg/day
• Sucralose 5mg/Kg/day
• Acesulfame 15mg/kg/day