What you need to know about ACESULFAME POTASSIUM

Acesulfame potassium, also known as Acesulfame-K or simply Ace-K, is a non-nutritive sweetener that delivers powerful, great-tasting sweetness without any caloric contribution to the diet. In fact, it is never metabolized (digested and/or absorbed) by the body. Indeed, it is eliminated in the same form and in the same amount that is ingested. Ace-K simply provides the sensation of sweetness to the palate and then passes right through the body unchanged.

It is these attributes, and a huge scientific database proving its safety, that led the GNLD Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to select it for use in our GR2 Control Meal Replacement Protein Shakes. Ace-K provides the sweetness needed to make a great-tasting product without the calories that using simple-sugar carbohydrates would require.

GNLD Scientific Advisory Board member, Dr. Laszlo Somogyi, is a world-recognized expert in food sciences and was the past chairman of an Expert Panel on Nutritive and Non-nutritive Sweeteners:

GNLD: Hello Dr. Somogyi. Thank you for spending this time to help us all better understand the facts about Acesulfame Potassium.

Dr. Somogyi: Hello, it is good to talk to you, I will be glad to share my views on this food ingredient.

GNLD: We understand you have recently been deeply involved in a special panel that evaluated and discussed the latest developments in sweeteners.

Dr. Somogyi: Yes, last October I acted as the Chair at a 3-day international conference held in the Washington, DC area. Entitled “Sweeteners 2000,” the entire conference was devoted to new developments in the field of sweeteners. It was high time for updates, as significant new technical developments and regulatory issues surfaced since the previous sweetener conference was held in 1998. Important issues discussed in the conference focused on low-calorie sweetener safety, low-calorie ingredient benefits and product labeling.
     Approximately 100 people from nine countries attended to hear 22 presentations and round-table discussions. Participants included nutrition and food research scientists from universities and the government, regulatory personnel from the FDA, representatives of the sweetener industry, and food and nutritional product manufacturers.

GNLD: Can you tell us a little about the sweetener Acesulfame-K?

Dr. Somogyi: Yes, but first I’d like to comment briefly why sugar, a highly popular food ingredient, is substituted with non-nutritive sweeteners.

Sugar substitutes are effective for:
- Weight control and reduction
- Management of diabetes
- Reduction of dental caries
- Reduction of obesity risks

Ace-K is one of the leading non-nutritive sweeteners available and offers all these benefits:

Technically, it’s an odorless, white crystalline powder that is approximately 200 times as sweet as sucrose. The compound is stable, non-caloric and non-cariogenic (does not promote tooth decay). Even at room temperature, Ace-K dissolves readily in water, has extended shelf life, and is stable across temperature and pH ranges associated with food preparation and processing.

Ace-K was discovered as a highly sweet-tasting compound in 1967 at the Hoechst AG’s laboratory in Germany. The potassium salt of acesulfame was identified as the most suitable derivative as a high-intensity sweetener.

In 1978, the World Health Organization registered acesulfame potassium salt as the generic name for this compound. Presently, Hoechst’s processing patent is still in effect.

GNLD: How does it compare with Aspartame?

Dr. Somogyi: Aspartame (commonly recognized by its brand name Equal®) is another widely used sweetener. One of its important dissimilarities to Ace-K is that aspartame is a dipeptide, a building block of proteins, and is fully metabolized by the human body. Therefore, aspartame is classified as a “high-intensity sweetener:” it provides 4 calories per gram, but because it is 200 times sweeter than sugar, it is used in such miniscule quantities that its caloric contribution to the diet is insignificant.

Aspartame has two significant disadvantages:

- It is not completely stable in liquids; in solution it breaks down.
- It is unsuitable for prolonged heating, or for ready-to-use products with extended shelf life requirements at room temperature.

While both Ace-K and aspartame are good sweeteners, they provide somewhat different sweet-taste sensations. We found that in the GR2 Control Meal Replacement Protein Shakes, Ace-K is preferred because its sweet taste is perceived quickly, does not linger and does not persist longer than the taste of the product. In brief, Ace-K provides an excellent, sugar-like taste.

GNLD: It sounds like Ace-K has been around for quite some time. Can you tell us about the safety testing that has been conducted on it?

Dr. Somogyi: As for its safety, Ace-K passed all required safety tests. More than 50 full-range toxicological studies were carried out with Ace-K. All of these studies concluded that the compound produces no toxic effects in the body. Metabolism studies conducted in rats, dogs, pigs and humans show that it is not digested; it was excreted unchanged. Moreover, Ace-K was found neither carcinogenic nor mutagenic, even when fed to the test animals at very high concentrations — up to 3% Ace-K. Reproductive studies in rats and rabbits concluded no teratogenecity effects of Ace-K.

I believe that Ace-K is one of the most thoroughly studied food ingredients and moreover, it has an 18-year track record of safe use around the world.

GNLD: If Ace-K is never digested or metabolized, how does it give us the sweet taste?

Dr. Somogyi: We experience sweet sensation by the “sweetness receptors” located on the surface of the tongue, and we taste the intact Ace-K molecule. To investigate possible metabolic transformations, radioactive 14-C labeled Ace-K was used. Studies were carried out on rats, dogs, and pigs. As animal studies did not show any metabolism, human volunteers were also given radioactive Ace-K. These tests confirmed that the different animal species, as well as the human volunteers, excreted the entire original compound.

GNLD: We understand that despite all this testing and proof there is one person who continues to try to convince people otherwise.

Dr. Somogyi: A single objection is reported questioning the safety of Acesulfame-K. Michael Jacobson, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) submitted his most recent objection in July 1996. He is renowned to object to every new food additive petition or new food processing technology. Jacobson’s letter to the FDA stated that tests carried out by Hoechst in support of the approval of Acesulfame-K were flawed. Specifically, he expressed concerns about an acesulfame breakdown product known as acetoacetamine. FDA denied CSPI’s hearing request, saying that the consumer group “failed to submit new information to support its claim that FDA incorrectly concluded that acesulfame potassium is safe.”

GNLD: Is the U.S. FDA the only government agency to approve Ace-K as safe?

Dr. Somogyi: Prior to the initial U.S. FDA approval in 1988, Ace-K was first approved in 1983 in the United Kingdom. Since then, numerous scientific and health authorities around the world have endorsed the sweetener’s safety, including the Joint Expert Committee for Food Additives of the World Health Organization. The sweetener is now approved in over 90 countries including the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia and Latin America, and can be found in over 4,000 products around the world.

GNLD: Why was Ace-K chosen for use in GR2 Control Meal Replacement Protein Shakes?

Dr. Somogyi: The SAB was looking for a way to deliver the sweetness needed for the good taste that consumers demand, while keeping the glycemic response and the caloric content of the product as low as possible.

Besides these basic requirements, we had to consider several other factors. To name a few important criteria: good flavor without unpleasant aftertaste, compatibility of the sweetener with the other ingredients in the product mix, instant solubility in cold liquid, and extended shelf life. Our research studies concluded that Ace-K met all of these essential prerequisites.

GNLD: Thank you Dr. Somogyi, your comments are greatly appreciated.