Non-caloric sweeteners used in processed foods in Ecuador

Abstract

In Ecuador, the implementation of warning labeling was
chosen due to the large supply of processed foods sweetened
with non-caloric sweeteners (ENC) in response to the implementation of public policies both to reduce sugar consumption, for which it is considers it very necessary to know the foods offered to the consumer, as well as the level of classic sweets using one or more ENC. Additionally, to capture the customer’s attention, several packages present phrases such as “zero sugar”, “sweetened with stevia” or “calorie free” despite having a mixture of non-caloric and caloric sweeteners.
The present work was developed with the objective of creating a database of processed foods to show the most used ENC. Information was collected from 450 processed foods
that were grouped into six categories. 61% of the foods studied used a single ENC, 37% had the combination of two ENC
and 2% used the mixture of three ENC. The most used sweetener was sucralose and the most used combination was aspartame and acesulfame K.