Acesulfame: What you should know about the synthetic sweetener

Acesulfame is an artificial sweetener. It is often found in reduced-sugar foods. Contrary to popular belief, Acecsulfam does not help you lose weight. Read what you need to know about acesulfame.

What you need to know about acesulfame

Acesulfame is a synthetic sweetener. Many sugar-free foods contain acesulfame. As a chemical sweetener, it is sweeter than actual sugar and also has a longer shelf life.

• Acesulfame K, the full name, was first manufactured in Germany in the late 1960s. The chemical compound consists of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, potassium and sulfur.
• Acesulfame and other synthetic sweeteners are much sweeter than conventional sugar. For example, acesulfame tastes 200 times sweeter than table sugar. However, the sweet taste of synthetic sweeteners disappears faster than with conventional sugar.
• In addition, synthetic sweeteners like acesulfame contain no energy. Therefore, people who want to lose weight often resort to sweeteners because they assume that the missing calories help with the diet.
• Food containing acesulfame is often stated as "sugar-free or energy-reduced". These sweeteners can be found in numerous sweets, spreads, soft drinks, canned goods or chewing gum.
• Acesulfame has a longer shelf life than normal sugar, so canned goods, sauces and mustard often contain the synthetic sweetener.

This is important to note with acesulfame:

Contrary to many assumptions, acesulfame does not help you lose weight. Children should not eat the synthetic sweetener either.

• People on a diet often consume foods with zero-calorie sweeteners, believing that they will lose weight. According to studies, the opposite is true, because the lack of energy intake does not satisfy hunger. In this way, the missing calories are absorbed elsewhere.
• As an artificial sweetener, acesulfame and Co. do not cause tooth decay. Therefore, children often receive sweets with synthetic sugar. However, children have a particularly active metabolism. So far, there is no precise information on how much synthetic sweet children can take. However, experts generally advise against giving children sweetened foods.
• It should also be mentioned that some sweeteners are suspected of causing cancer. However, this has not yet been clearly proven.
• As a healthy adult, you can safely consume acesulfame K and other sweeteners. Nine milligrams per kilogram of body weight is the daily guideline here. However, since production is very complex and therefore harmful to the environment, natural sugar-free sweeteners such as agave syrup or honey are better.

In the next article you will read how sugar works in the body.