Sucralose: A Non-Caloric Sweetener

Submitted by Sharon Hopkins on July 6, 2007

What is sucralose?
Sucralose is a low caloric artificial sweetener that has a taste like sugar because it is made from sugar. It can be used to replace sugar to cut down the calories as sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sugar and can be used as a table sweetener and also in variety of products like desserts, beverages, canned fruits, baked goods, dairy products or syrups and condiments. In the processing of sucralose, sugar molecules undergo a patented, multi-step process that selectively substitutes three chlorine atoms for three hydrogen-oxygen groups. This creates a molecular structure that is exceptionally stable.

More than 100 scientific studies conducted over 20 years prove the safety of sucralose.

Sucralose can be safely used as a sweetening agent in various preparations as it has been independently evaluated in various fields including oncology, toxicology, teratology, neurology, hematology, nutrition and pediatrics. All studies clearly demonstrate its safety and ensures that it is non carcinogenic. Sucralose is permitted for use in more than 60 countries as many regulatory bodies have declared that it safe.

Although products made from sucralose may contain calories, but sucralose is a non-caloric and thus provides no calories. Hence it is used as a sweetener to replace sugar in various products and in turn decrease the total (especially empty calories) calories of the food product. Our body doesn’t recognize sucralose as a carbohydrate although it is made from sugar and thus is not broken down in the body for calories.

Sucralose molecule is eliminated from the body after consumption, unchanged.

Chlorine in sucralose may raise questions for some. But chlorine is present in the form of chloride that is an element naturally found in many foods and beverages like natural water, tomatoes, lettuce, mushrooms, peanut butter, melons and table salt.

Sucralose can be consumed in a variety of products without the concern of extra calories (from sugar). Sucralose is essentially an inert molecule, doesn’t have any harmful effects and is absolutely safe even if taken on regular basis for life time. Sucralose can be safely consumed by all people without any harmful effects including pregnant women, breast feeding mothers, children and people with diabetes.

Sucralose can be added in various food preparations to make a meal healthy, nutritious and palatable. It does not lose its sugar like sweetness even after application of heat and has a long shelf life. Thus it is used in more than 4,000 food products as a sweetener and the products maintain the sweetness throughout their shelf life even after baking or cooking.