Do you have a sweet tooth problem? But if your favourites are chewing gums and candies and the like, you have one less worry to be concerned about.
For the amount of sweeteners these confectionery delights may deliver upon consumption is much less than what one can safely consume in a day.
Or, more precisely, well below the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) as assigned by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives.
This followed a test conducted by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in collaboration with the Consumer Council on the content of sweeteners of some of the common confectionery available in supermarkets and convenience chain stores.
Six sweeteners were tested, all of which are on the permitted list for use in Hong Kong, namely, acesulfame potassium, alitame, aspartame, cyclamic acid, saccharin and sucralose.
The results showed that the most used sweeteners are acesulfame potassium and aspartame. Among the 40 test samples - 12 chewing gums, 25 candies and 3 refreshing strips - 21 of them (52.5%) contained both of these sweeteners.
Further, 25 samples (62.5%) and 34 samples (85%) were found to contain acesulfame potassium and aspartame respectively.
Sucralose was detected in 4 samples (10%) while the remainders of the sweeteners (alitame, cyclamic acid and saccharin) were not found in any of the samples.
The ADI is a measure that represents the amount of sweetener that can be safely consumed on a daily basis over a lifetime.
On the basis of the test results, it is highly unlikely that a person may normally consume sweeteners on a given day in excess of the ADI.
For illustration, a secondary school student of 52 kg body weight would have to consume approximately 350 pieces of chewing gum or 400 candies a day to reach the ADI.
And in the case of a person of 60 kg body weight, he or she would have to consume some 530 pieces of chewing gum or 520 candies a day. Allowance is already given for the daily intake of sweeteners from other sources such as beverages or table-top sweeteners.
So, in general, the daily consumption of confectionery with sweeteners should not pose a risk to the health of most people.
Sweeteners have been used as sugar replacers in confectionery products. This is because they can deliver an equivalent sweetness value to sugar at a lower cost and offer consumers an alternative to enjoy the taste of sweetness with little or no energy intake which may assist in weight management.
They may also be used to provide sweet-tasting foods for people with diabetes who have to restrict their carbohydrate intake.
But people who have concerns and medical reasons about the use of products containing sweeteners should seek advice from health professionals.
To avoid excessive intake of any sweetener from a limited small range of food items, a balanced diet is recommended.
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