Consumers need to be made aware of benefits of low-calorie sweeteners

Leading experts in the field of food additive safety and risk communication gathered at a symposium hosted today by the Nutrition Research Foundation at the 2^nd World Congress of Public Health Nutrition to discuss the safety of low-calorie sweeteners and reaffirm the positive role they can play in the diet. A key focus of the discussion was the challenge that healthcare professionals face in helping consumers to understand that low-calorie sweeteners are safe, approved ingredients that can be used to sweeten a wide variety of food and drink products, without contributing to the total caloric value.

“Based on a review of the current epidemiologic and clinical evidence, low calorie sweeteners remain a powerful tool for the management of body weight, obesity and diabetes and it is important that consumers are made aware of this.”

Though low-calorie sweeteners are among the most extensively studied of all food additives, confusion still remains around their safety and their benefits. "For years we have been bombarded with information on low-calorie sweeteners through the media and online - much of it somewhat misleading and misinformed. It is difficult for healthcare professionals to reassure consumers that they are safe, and help them understand that in some cases, swapping a sugary food or drink for one sweetened by low-calorie sweeteners could be beneficial," said Nutrition Research Foundation President, Professor Lluis Serra-Majem.

"The benefits of low-calorie sweeteners are undisputed amongst the credible scientific community, and certain sectors of the population that consume them can enjoy their benefits regularly - such as people with diabetes. The Nutrition Research Foundation believes that this message must now filter through to the wider population so that they can make informed choices about whether they include low-calorie sweeteners in their diets too," added Professor Serra-Majem.

This sentiment was echoed in the presentations at the symposium by Professor Andrew Renwick, an expert on the safety assessment of low-calorie sweeteners, Dr Adam Drewnowski, a leader in innovative research approaches for the prevention and treatment of obesity and Professor Ragnar Löfstedt, a leading commentator on risk communications and the role of the media in food safety scares.

Dr Drewnowski highlighted the important role low-calorie sweeteners can play in managing weight and diabetes stating that: "Based on a review of the current epidemiologic and clinical evidence, low calorie sweeteners remain a powerful tool for the management of body weight, obesity and diabetes and it is important that consumers are made aware of this."

The discussion at the symposium also highlighted the importance of media in the communications process. "Given the massive amount of misinformation on low-calorie sweeteners, which is continuously being recycled, it is important that responsible media sources provide consumers with information about the conclusions of safety assessments that are undertaken by independent regulatory authorities such as the WHO/FAO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives and the European Food Safety Authority," explained Professor Renwick in his presentation.

Professor Löfstedt believes that the media plays a key role in helping consumers understand which scientific sources are credible, "One way to start this process would be to have a media communication checklist that could help journalists better differentiate between risk, uncertainty, science and pure lobbying."

Löfstedt added that he sees an important communications role for regulators themselves, "There needs to be a better, wider understanding of the extensive work regulators do in the area of food safety. Regulators need to become better risk communicators and help to make their world more accessible to consumers."

Professor Carlo La Vecchia and Professor Tur-Mari, moderators of the symposium, concluded the event by stating that healthcare professionals cannot overcome this challenge on their own: "Despite a large amount of evidence of absence of health risk of low calorie sweeteners, the public is subject to repeated alarms. We'd like to see regulatory authorities and media professionals, as trusted advisors to consumers, continuing to work together as a combined force to separate low-calorie sweetener fact from fiction in a concerted effort to finally banish misinformation."

In the European Union, nine low-calorie sweeteners are approved for use in foodstuffs. These are acesulfame-K (E950), aspartame (E951), aspartame-acesulfame salt (E962), cyclamate (E952), neohesperidine DC (E959), saccharin (E954), sucralose (E955), thaumatin (E957) and neotame (E961).