With the increasing number of obese people worldwide, food sugar reduction and control has become one of the most urgent health needs of the people.

In order to alleviate this situation, many countries around the world have started to impose a “sugar tax”, i.e., to raise the price of sugary foods, so that sugary foods will lose their price advantage, and consumers will be more inclined to choose less sugary foods. China’s “Action for a Healthy China (2019-2030)” also proposes that the daily intake of added sugar (mainly sucrose) for adults should be no more than 25g, and advocates that food producers and operators should use natural sweetening substances and sweeteners permitted by food safety standards to replace sucrose.

As a result, sugar substitutes are widely used in food processing due to their low energy, slow glycemic and high sweetness characteristics. FoodPartner.com introduces the definitions of sugar and sugar substitutes, classification of sugar substitutes, characteristics of common sugar substitutes and how to buy sugary foods.

Sugar and Sugar Substitutes

The sources of sugars in food can be categorized into three parts, i.e. natural sugars (i.e. sugars that come with the food itself), added sugars (i.e. additional sugars added to the food) and sugar substitutes.

Sugar substitutes can be understood as substitutes for added sugars in food. According to the Basic Terminology for Nutritional Composition of Food (GB/Z 21922-2008), “sugar” on food packaging refers to all monosaccharides and disaccharides.

Monosaccharides include glucose, fructose and galactose. Disaccharide including sucrose, lactose and maltose, excluding sugar alcohols. Although there is no clear definition of sugar, but including sugar alcohols, which is characterized by both the sweetness of the food and low-calorie. Therefore, sugar substitutes are not sugar.

Classification of sugar substitutes

At present, commercially available food sugar mainly includes natural sweeteners, artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols and functional oligosaccharides.

Artificial sweeteners, natural sweeteners and sugar alcohols belong to the category of food additives sweeteners. Among them, artificial sweeteners are chemically synthesized, natural sweeteners are extracted from plants, and sugar alcohols between artificial and natural, mainly through microbial fermentation preparation.

Functional oligosaccharides (oligosaccharides) are formed by 2 to 10 monosaccharide molecules linked by glycosidic bonds, mostly prepared by means of monosaccharide synthesis or polysaccharide degradation.

Common Sugar Substitutes

1.1 Sweeteners
Sweeteners are important food additives indispensable to the modern food industry, and the right amount of sweeteners can improve the taste and flavor of food. China’s National Standard for Food Safety Standard for the Use of Food Additives (GB 2760-2014) clearly stipulates the scope of use and dosage of sweeteners, so as long as they are used reasonably in accordance with the standard, they are safe.

At present, China GB 2760 has approved the use of more than 20 kinds of sweeteners. Mainly include: erythritol, xylitol, maltitol and other low sweeteners; sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame, sweeteners, sodium saccharin, neotame and other high sweeteners. There is no limit on the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for low sweeteners, while there are limits on the ADI for high sweeteners.

Natural sweeteners are extracted and processed from natural ingredients and are low in calories. Common natural sweeteners include stevioside, rosmarinic acid and licorice sweetener.

Synthetic sweeteners are chemically synthesized chemical substances with a sweet taste but no nutrients, and are generally 10 to hundreds of times sweeter than sucrose.

Synthetic sweeteners commonly found in food include sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame, sweetener, sodium saccharin and neotame. Among them, sucralose is very sweet and is the synthetic sweetener with the closest taste to sucrose.

Aspartame is closer in taste to sucrose when mixed with acesulfame. Sweetener sweetness is about 30 to 40 times that of sucrose. Sodium saccharin, on the other hand, can cause discomfort when consumed in excess, so it is used less in food. Neotame is a derivative of aspartame, which has the advantages of high sweetness and better safety.

According to the provisions of “Confectionery Terminology” (GB/T 31120-2014), sugar alcohol refers to starch or amylopectin or carbohydrates other than starch as raw materials, the product obtained by hydrolysis, and then hydrogenation, or fermentation, or enzyme catalyzed method of refining products containing more than two hydroxyl groups.

Because the structure is similar to sugar, it has a sweetness similar to sugar. But the chemical properties of sugar than more stable, added to food can improve food quality. Sugar alcohol sweeteners mainly from fruits and vegetables, sweeter than sucrose, low calorie, including xylitol, erythritol, maltitol and sorbitol.

1.2 Functional oligosaccharide
Functional oligosaccharides are water-soluble dietary fiber, with most of the physiological functions of dietary fiber. Because it can not be digested and absorbed by human intestines, it can directly enter the intestinal tract and be utilized by bifidobacteria, which has the effect of proliferation of bifidobacteria.

Because of low energy, it can be used as sweetener of food for diabetic and obese people. In addition, it also has the property of preventing dental caries. Common functional oligosaccharides include: oligoisomaltose, oligofructose, oligosaccharides, oligosaccharides, oligogalactose, fructose and so on.

Labeling Requirements for Sugar Substitutes

Sugar substitutes in the food ingredients list can be used as food additives or food raw materials, and their labeling requirements should be in line with the provisions of GB 7718. Food additives can be labeled as food additives specific name, food additives functional category name and at the same time labeling specific name or international code (INS number).

Among them, aspartame should be labeled as “aspartame (containing phenylalanine)”. Compound additives should be labeled in the ingredient list for each food additive that has a functional role in the final product.

Therefore, compound sweeteners can be labeled as “compound sweetener (aspartame (containing phenylalanine), erythritol)” or “aspartame (containing phenylalanine), erythritol”.

Functional oligosaccharide sugar substitute belongs to the food ingredients, can refer to GB 7718 in the labeling requirements of food ingredients.

How to buy “sugary” foods

On the one hand, look at the “sugar content” in the table of nutritional composition of food, “energy, fat and carbohydrate content”. Determine whether the “sugar content” is in line with the “National Standard for Food Safety General Principles for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods” (GB 28050-2011), which stipulates that “no sugar”, “0 sugar”, “low sugar”, “low sugar”, “low sugar”, “low sugar”, “low sugar”, “low sugar”, “low sugar” and “low sugar”. Low Sugar“ (”No Sugar” or ‘0 Sugar’ means sugar content ≤ 0.5g/100g (100mL); ‘Low Sugar’ means sugar content ≤ 0.5g/100g (100mL); ‘Low Sugar’ means sugar content ≤0.5g/100g (100mL); ”Low Sugar “low sugar” means sugar content ≤ 5g/100g (100mL)) standard.

At the same time, look at the “energy, fat and carbohydrate content”, if the content is high, even if it meets the provisions of sugar-free, low-sugar food, does not mean that zero-carbohydrate, should be consumed in moderation.

On the other hand, look at the ingredient list to see if there is really no added sugar. Here to distinguish between the food itself contains sugar (such as honey, fruit juice, etc.) and what categories of sugar substitutes used. Usually, sugar alcohol sugar substitutes are low in calories, synthetic and natural sweeteners have no calories, and functional oligosaccharides are beneficial in addition to being low in calories.

However, because there is still a lot of controversy about the safety of sugar substitutes, especially artificial sweeteners, even sugar-substituted foods should be consumed in moderation to allow sugar substitutes to maximize their benefits.

Summary

In summary, the addition of sugar substitutes to food is not the same as sugar-free food. Sugar-free is a content claim, and the key is to limit added sugars in food. Since sugar substitutes have the characteristics of imparting sweetness to food, low calorie, preventing dental caries, and proliferation of bifidobacteria, they are suitable for use by people who want to lose weight and control blood glucose. However, we should also avoid random intake and over-dependence on sugar substitutes because they are added to foods, turning a life that could have been lived with less sugar into one with more sugar substitutes.