Splenda finds Pharmaceutical Applications
Existing applications include vitamin tablets, throat lozenges, and cold remedies. Currently 8% of SPLENDA Sucralose (by sales revenue) is sold into the pharmaceutical industry, 39% into beverages and 53% into food.
SPLENDA Sucralose is a no-calorie sweetener that is made from sugar and tastes like sugar. In the food and beverage industry it has enjoyed phenomenal uptake across the globe, stimulating brand extensions and enabling the development of new healthy-lifestyle products. It has also been used extensively in pharmaceutical applications by companies in the United States, having been included in the US Pharmacopeia. Many world renowned companies already use SPLENDA Sucralose in their products in the United States. Existing applications include vitamin tablets, throat lozenges, and cold remedies. Currently 8% of SPLENDA Sucralose (by sales revenue) is sold into the pharmaceutical industry, 39% into beverages and 53% into food.
SPLENDA Sucralose is currently in several European drug formulations. With anticipated increased interest in the European market it is envisaged that SPLENDA Sucralose will be included in the EU Pharmacopeia in the near future, as European companies start to realise its full benefits.
Mary Quinlan, Manager, Sweetener Technology Development, Tate & Lyle commented: “We view this as an exciting opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry as SPLENDA Sucralose has particular benefits over other intense sweeteners in terms of its excellent stability and sweetness.
“Sucralose has a high-quality sweetness and flavour profile close to that of sucrose and is synergistic with most nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners, as well as polyols. As it is six hundred times sweeter than sugar it does not contribute to the bulk of the product – we know that this is seen as an advantage by some customers for tablet and dry form pharmaceuticals, as it allows more room for active ingredients than when compared with traditional sweetening systems. Also, sucralose works well with vitamins and other active ingredients to mask the bitter notes often associated with them.
"Furthermore sucralose is a very stable, inert compound that has not been found to interact with other ingredients. In liquid systems it is stable across the range from low pH to neutral formulations and it is also highly heat stable - meaning that it can withstand heat processing conditions such as pasteurisation or UHT without any loss. The excellent stability of sucralose compared with some other high potency sweeteners ensures that the sweetness of the product is maintained throughout its shelf life.”
Using SPLENDA Sucralose in pharmaceutical applications also offers ‘clean label’ benefits as it has never been a requirement to carry any safety information or warning statements on products where it is used.
Other key benefits of SPLENDA Sucralose include its suitability for the whole family, including diabetics, pregnant women and nursing mothers. Also, sucralose does not support growth of oral bacteria which causes tooth decay. Therefore it can be used in ‘tooth-friendly’ pharmaceuticals.