Sweeteners in Candy

• Sweeteners

Sweetener is a common food additive to give soft drinks a sweet taste with high safety, good taste, high stability, good water solubility and reasonable price. There are many types of sweeteners, which can be divided into nutritive sweeteners and non-nutritive sweeteners according to their nutritional value; and they also can be divided into low-sweet sweeteners and high-sweet sweeteners according to sweetness; in addition, sweeteners can be divided into: natural sweeteners and synthetic sweeteners according to the source. Among them, the low calorific value produced by the synthetic sweetener is beneficial to patients such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, dental caries, etc., and has the advantages of high efficiency and low cost, which is widely used in foods, especially in the soft drink industry.

The main effects of sweeteners in food are as follows:

• Sweetness: sweetness is one of the indicators of many foods. In order to make the food and drink have a delicious feeling, it is necessary to add a certain amount of sweetener;

• Regulating flavor: in beverages and other foods, sweeteners can impart a good flavor to the product while maintaining a fresh taste;

• The sweetness and the flavor of many foods complement each other. The taste of many products is produced by a combination of flavoring substances and sweeteners, so many foods are added with sweeteners.

• The Harm of Sweeteners to the Human Body

As with general food additives, sweeteners that don’t exceed the standard amount are almost harmless to the human body. However, if you take too much, it will pose a threat to your health. Excessive amounts of different sweeteners can have different consequences, and the most harmful to the human body is artificial sweeteners, such as saccharin. Experiments have shown that saccharin does not have any nutrients for the human body, and eating too much can affect the digestion and absorption of the stomach, which leads to decreased appetite, malnutrition, a great reduction of platelets in a short period of time, and even malignant poisoning events. And excessive intake of abbas can cause diseases in the digestive system, respiratory system, genitourinary system, nervous system, etc., leading to high blood sugar, high blood pressure, long-term fatigue, lack of intelligence, decreased immunity, depression, anxiety and confused. etc. Even if you are eating a natural sweetener, such as sucrose, excessive consumption also can cause health problems. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly control the intake of sweeteners.

• Provisions for Sweetener Content in Confectionery

Since an excessive amount of sweeteners can cause harm to the human body, internationally, there are strict international requirements for the amount of sweeteners added, and different sweeteners have different requirements. For example, in the United States, Canada, the European Union, Japan, and Hong Kong, cyclamate is prohibited as a food sweetener. Saccharin can be used in pickles, compound sauces, preserves, blended wines, ice cream, popsicles, pastries, biscuits, and bread, in which the dosage is 0.15 g/kg, and the maximum dosage in melon seeds is 1.2 g/kg, etc. All foods that add saccharin sodium as a sweetener require a warning label — "sodium saccharin can cause tumors in animals", and it is not allowed to add saccharin in baby food.

• The Development Prospects of Sweeteners

Functional sweeteners are the most promising among all sweeteners, which can satisfy people's preference for sweets without causing side effects, enhance the body's immunity, and have certain auxiliary therapeutic effects on liver diseases and diabetes. Therefore, functional sweeteners will become one of the major sweetener varieties in the market.

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