In this Article

• What role does sugar play in our diet?
• What is the difference between GRAS foods and food additives?
• What are sugar alcohols?
• Are there any safety concerns with sugar alcohols?
• What are nonnutritive sweeteners?
• Saccharin: What is the positive side?
• Saccharin: What is the negative side?
• Aspartame: What is the positive side?
• Aspartame: What is the negative side?
• Sucralose: What is the positive side?
• Sucralose: What is the negative side?
• Acesulfame K: What is the positive side?
• Acesulfame K: What is the negative side?
• Neotame: What is the positive side?
• Neotame: What is the negative side?
• Is it safe to blend artificial sweeteners?
• Can you get something for nothing?
• Artificial Sweeteners Index

What is the difference between GRAS foods and food additives?

The World Health Organization (WHO), the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) of the European Commission, the Joint Expert Committee of Food Additions (JECFA) of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are each involved.

In the United States, sweeteners fall under the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list or as food additives under the 1958 Food Additives Amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. According to the FDA, "Regardless of whether the use of a substance is a food additive use or is GRAS, there must be evidence that the substance is safe under the conditions of its intended use. FDA has defined "safe" as a reasonable certainty in the minds of competent scientists that the substance is not harmful under its intended conditions of use. The specific data and information that demonstrate safety depend on the characteristics of the substance, the estimated dietary intake, and the population that will consume the substance."

The guidelines about what constitutes a sweetener to be on the GRAS list versus being listed as a food additive are as follows:

• For a GRAS substance, generally available data and information about the use of the substance are known and accepted widely by qualified experts, and there is a basis to conclude that there is consensus among qualified experts that those data and information establish that the substance is safe under the conditions of its intended use.



• For a food additive, privately held data and information about the use of the substance are sent by the sponsor to FDA and FDA evaluates those data and information to determine whether they establish that the substance is safe under the conditions of its.

Throughout the remainder of this article, you will learn about the positive and negative sides of the story behind each of the FDA approved nutritive and nonnutritive sweeteners.