US FDA Approves Advantame as New Sweetener

22 May 2014 --- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new high intensity sweetener, Advantame, for general use in foods and beverages. This new sweetener, whose safety is supported by 37 scientific studies, has successfully completed the food additive petition approval process of the FDA. This is the first time the FDA has approved a new high intensity sweetener through the food additive approval process since 2002.

Advantame is a clean-tasting, free-flowing, water soluble, white crystalline powder that is stable at high temperatures. Its approval for general use gives both manufacturers and consumers many options for its use and consumption.

Advantame is made from vanillin and aspartame. Because of its sweetness, it will be needed only at very low levels in foods and beverages.

"We are pleased FDA has approved another low calorie sweetener," said Haley Curtis Stevens, Ph.D., President of the Calorie Control Council. "More than ever before, consumers need low calorie (and no calorie) options, which can all be part of a healthy diet and lifestyle."

The U.S. follows Australia and New Zealand in its approval of Advantame as a general purpose sweetener. Final approvals in Japan and the European Union are pending.

"We are all very excited about Advantame. The clean sugar-like taste means that it blends very well with sugar and other caloric sweeteners, providing food and beverage companies with an alternative that has meaningful nutritional advantages," Brendan Naulty, Senior Vice President of supplier Ajinomoto North America, Inc.. said in the news release. "Using less caloric sweetener to deliver good-tasting foods and beverages is a real plus in today's marketplace."

The sweetener can withstand normal storage. The product could be used in items ranging from "table top sweeteners, powered soft drinks, carbonated drinks, and desserts to chewing gums," the news release reported.

Research suggests this new sweetener could reduce the calories in some sweet drinks by 30 percent without changing the flavor.

The consumer lobby group CSPI said that it will be carefully reviewing the studies on Advantame. CSPI Senior Scientist Lisa Lefferts: “However, an initial concern is that in a key cancer study in mice, the number of mice that survived to the end of the study was below FDA's own scientific recommendations, and is therefore inadequate to provide confidence in the safety of a chemical likely to be consumed by millions of people.”