Non-nutritive and Nutritive Sweeteners

DEFINITION

Nutritive sweeteners

• Nutritive sweeteners contain carbohydrate and provide energy.
• Nutritive sweeteners are often termed sugars, added sugars, or caloric sweeteners.
• Sugars are found naturally in fruits, dairy products, and some vegetables.
• Sugars are also added to foods and beverages during processing and by the consumer before consumption.
• The names of sugar commonly found in food includes: glucose, fructose, galactose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, corn-based sweeteners, honey, molasses, agave nectar, and fruit juice concentrates.
• Sugar alcohols (polyols) contain about half the calories of sugar and are used as lower-calorie sweeteners.
• The names of sugar alcohols are: erythritol, sorbitol, glycerol (also known as glycerin or glycerine), hydrogenated starch hydrolysates, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, and xylitol.

Nonnutritive sweeteners (NNS)

• Have a higher intensity sweetness per gram than nutritive sweeteners.
• Only needed in small quantities so they provide very few or no calories.
• Also referred to as artificial sweeteners, sugar substitutes, low-calorie sweeteners, high-intensity sweeteners, or noncaloric sweeteners.