Sweeteners
Acesulfame PotassiumHeat stable, calorie-free and usually blended with aspartame. Regulators now agree on its ADI of 15, but toddlers' modelled intake…AdvantameThe most potent sweetener here, about 20,000 times sugar. Made from aspartame, it has no PKU warning, and FDA's limit…AlluloseThe most sugar-like low-calorie sweetener here: it browns, it bulks, and it may blunt the glucose response to other carbohydrates.AspartameAbout 200 times sweeter than sugar, with a mandatory PKU warning, two different ADIs, and a 2023 cancer classification that…ErythritolA sugar alcohol with no calories and no glycemic impact - and an open cardiovascular question that the 2025 evidence…Inulin (Chicory Root Fibre)Chicory root fibre bulks out sugar-free foods and barely raises glucose. Its US fibre status is provisional, its HbA1c benefit…MaltitolThe most sugar-like polyol, and the least sugar-free: GI 35, syrups near 50, and in chocolate an insulin response like…Monk FruitIntensely sweet, plant-derived, and the thinnest safety file of any sweetener on this site. Mogroside content varies enormously by grade.NeotameMade from aspartame but with no PKU warning, and the widest regulatory gap on this site: FDA, JECFA and EFSA…SaccharinThe sweetener whose cancer scare ran its full course: listed in the 1970s, delisted in 2000, now with a new…SorbitolBarely moves blood glucose, with a GI of 9, but has the most calories of any single polyol and the…SteviaThe only sweetener here with a real internationally agreed daily limit - and a hard 95 percent purity cliff in…SucraloseThe strongest US regulatory clearance of any sweetener here - and the one where regulators publicly disagree, on both the…SugarThe baseline every other sweetener here is measured against - what sucrose does in food, and what the WHO guideline…TagatoseA rare sugar, about 90% as sweet as sugar, that does not raise glucose on its own. FDA counts 1.5…XylitolThe best dental evidence of any sweetener here, the highest calorie count of any polyol, and a serious hazard to…Yacon SyrupPart fibre, part sugar: a quarter to over half of yacon syrup is free sugar, in proportions nobody sets. Its…
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This page is educational information, not medical or dietary advice. Nutrition and regulatory details change over time — verify against the cited primary sources before relying on them for formulation or health decisions.