Sweeteners
Sweeteners: Food Sources
CALORIC SWEETENERS
Processed:
- Confectioner's sugar (also known as powdered sugar) is finely ground sucrose.
- Corn sweeteners are sugars obtained from corn (for example, corn syrup). Corn syrup is used frequently in carbonated beverages, baked goods, and some canned products. It is a liquid that is a combination of maltose, glucose, and dextrose.
- Dextrose is glucose combined with water.
- Invert sugar is a sugar that is made by dividing sucrose into its two parts: glucose and fructose. Sweeter than sucrose and used in a liquid form, invert sugar helps in maintaining the sweetness of confections and baked items.
- Sucrose includes raw sugar, granulated sugar, brown sugar, confectioner's sugar, and turbinado sugar. It is made up of glucose and fructose. It is made by concentrating sugar beet juice and or sugar cane.
- Turbinado sugar is made by refining sugar and making it more pure.
Non-processed:
- Raw sugar is granulated, solid, or coarse, and is brown in color. It is obtained by the evaporation of the moisture from the juice of the sugar cane.
- Brown sugar is made from the sugar crystals obtained from molasses syrup.
- Fructose is the naturally occurring sugar in all fruits. It is also called levulose or fruit sugar.
- Glucose is found in fruits but in limited amounts; it is also a syrup made from corn starch.
- Honey is a combination of fructose, glucose, and water, produced by bees.
- Lactose (milk sugar) is the carbohydrate that is in milk. It is made up of glucose and galactose.
- Maltose (malt sugar) is produced during the process of fermentation. It is found in beer and in breads.
- Mannitol is a by-product of alcohol production but does not contain any alcohol. It does have a laxative effect when consumed in large quantities. It is used in dietetic food products.
- Maple sugar is obtained from the sap of maple trees. It is made up of sucrose, fructose, and glucose.
- Molasses is obtained from the residue of sugar cane processing.
- Sorbitol is used in many dietetic food products. It is produced from glucose and it is also found naturally in certain berries and fruits. It is absorbed by the body at a much slower rate than sugar.
NONCALORIC SWEETENERS
- Aspartame is a combination of phenylalanine and aspartic acid, which are two amino acids. It is also known by its commercial names of Equal, which is available as a packaged sweetener, and as NutraSweet when it is used in food or beverage products. It is 180 to 220 times sweeter than sugar.
- Acesulfame K is an artificial sweetener, also known as Sunett. It is heat stable and can be used in cooking and baking. It is also available as a tabletop sweetener, marketed under the name Sweet One. It is FDA-approved and is used in combination with other sweeteners such as saccharin in carbonated low-calorie beverages and other products.
- Saccharin is 300 times sweeter than sugar. It is the first artificial sweetener. It is used in several dietetic food and beverage products.
- Cyclamates are 30 times sweeter than sugar. They are banned in the United States because in 1970 they were shown to have caused bladder cancer in animals.
References: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) National Toxicology Program (NTP) 9th Report on Carcinogens, May 2000
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