Low-Calorie Sweeteners

Big on Taste, Small on Numbers

Life is sweet, and why shouldn’t it be? With hundreds of scientific reports confirming their safety, low-calorie sweeteners have been helping people reduce their caloric intake for years, without sacrificing taste.

Learn about some of today’s most popular sweeteners and find ways to put their low-cal benefits to work in your active, healthy lifestyle.

The Low Down on Low-Calorie Sweeteners

With hundreds of scientific reports confirming their safety, low-calorie sweeteners can be a great option for people looking to control their calorie intake without sacrificing taste.

Research confirms low-calorie sweeteners don’t increase your appetite, and when used in place of higher calorie options, foods and beverages made with low-calorie sweeteners have the potential to aid in weight management. But, it’s also clear their benefit depends on how people choose to use them. Remember, calories “saved” can quickly be erased by other high-calorie food choices.

The key to healthy weight control is learning to balance calorie intake with calorie expenditure—in other words, calories in vs. calories out. All foods and beverages can fit in a sensible, balanced diet, even your favorite caloric beverages, as long as you watch portion sizes and stay within your daily calorie needs and engage in regular physical activity.

Learn about six of today’s most popular low- and no-calorie sweeteners.

The Sweet Difference

Common low-calorie sweeteners allowed by the U.S. FDA for use in foods and beverages include aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, acesulfame potassium and rebiana (rebaudioside A).

Aspartame
Approved by the FDA in 1974 for use in foods and beverages, this low-calorie sweetener is 200 times sweeter than sugar. It’s used in products like no and low-calorie beverages, chewing gum, gelatins, dessert mixes, yogurt, and puddings and fillings and is used as a tabletop sweetener under the brand names Equal® and NutraSweet®. Aspartame contains phenylalanine and should not be consumed by people with phenylketonuria, a rare genetic condition for which infants are tested at birth.
Sucralose
Approved by the FDA in 1998, this no-calorie sweetener is 600 times sweeter than sugar and is used as an ingredient in a broad range of foods and beverages. It’s used as a tabletop sweetener under the name SPLENDA®.
Saccharin
Approved for use in more than 100 countries around the world, this no-calorie sweetener is 300 times sweeter than sugar. It’s used in low-calorie and sugar-free products including no- and low-calorie beverages, jams, canned fruit, candy and salad dressings. As a tabletop sweetener, it’s found under the brand names Sweet n’ Low® and Sugar Twin®.
Acesulfame Potassium
Approved safe by the FDA, this low-calorie sweetener is 200 times sweeter than sugar. Used in thousands of products like low-calorie beverages, desserts, puddings, and baked goods, it can also be found as a tabletop sweetener under the brand names Sunette®, Sweet One® and Swiss Sweet®.
Rebiana
This highly purified stevia extract preparation primarily consists of the sweet tasting component, rebaudioside A. Rebiana can be found in a variety of foods and beverages and is sold as a tabletop sweetener under the brand name Truvia®.

Looking for more sweetener info? Download our comprehensive brochure.

Tasty & Safe For All

Not only are low-calorie sweeteners a delicious, beneficial way to make calories count, all sweeteners permitted by the U.S. FDA are safe for everybody, including children, people with diabetes and women who are pregnant or lactating. The only exception is that people born with the rare genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) should avoid aspartame because it contains phenylalanine, an amino acid that cannot be metabolized by people with PKU. The FDA requires that all foods and beverages that contain aspartame provide label information advising people with PKU about the presence of phenylalanine.

Check out our video discussion overview of the sweeteners that are used in today’s soft drinks and sparkling beverages.

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  • Drinking a diet sparkling beverage can “save” 100 calories. Most regular sparkling beverages provide 100 calories per 8 fl oz. A diet beverage provides zero calories. Make the swap and you’ve saved yourself 100 calories.

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  • Aspartame is one of the most thoroughly studied low-calorie sweeteners, with more than 200 scientific studies confirming its safety.

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  • Low-calorie sweeteners do not affect blood glucose or insulin response.

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  • Most low-calorie sweeteners are several hundred times sweeter than table sugar.

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  • Low-calorie sweeteners help make reduced and no-calorie foods and beverages more palatable.

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  • Saccharin has been used as a calorie-free sweetener for foods and beverages for over a century.

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  • Sucralose is a non-caloric sweetener that is structurally similar to sugar but 600 times sweeter.

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  • All low/no-calorie sweeteners used to manufacture Coca-Cola beverages sold in the U.S. have been accepted for use by the FDA.

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  • Replacing sugars with no- and low-calorie sweeteners can help you reduce your caloric intake.

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