Acesulfame Potassium

Acesulfame Potassium - a non-caloric sweetener with a clean, quickly perceptible sweet taste has excellent stability under high temperature. Its ready solubility makes it suitable for a large number of products.

Discovered by Hoechst AG in 1967, Acesulfame Potassium (also known as Acesulfame K) is a high-intensity, non-caloric sweetener. Approximately 200 times sweeter than sucrose, its clean, quickly perceptible, sweet taste does not linger or leave an aftertaste, and is not metabolized by the body - it is excreted unchanged.

It is currently used in thousands of foods, beverages, oral hygiene and pharmaceutical products, in about 90 countries. Among these are tabletop sweeteners, desserts, puddings, baked goods, soft drinks, candies and canned foods.

Benefits Of Acesulfame Potassium

Calorie Reduction

Substituting Acesulfame Potassium for sugar can reduce and even practically eliminate calories in some products. Since it isn't metabolized, it contributes no calories to the body.

Stability In High Tempertare

Acesulfame Potassium remains unchanged at temperatures of over 200ºC, and does not lose its sweetness or break down. So beverages containing Acesulfame Potassium can be pasteurized under normal pasteurizing conditions without loss of sweetness.

Long Shelf Life

Acesulfame Potassium has a high degree of stability over a wide range of pH and temperature storage conditions. This gives it an excellent shelf life.

Clean and Sweet Taste

Acesulfame Potassium has a clean, quickly perceptible, non-lingering sweet taste and does not change or mar the taste of food products.

Synergistic When combined with other non-nutritive sweeteners, Acesulfame Potassium provides a synergistic effect.

No Tooth Decay Acesulfame Potassium does not have a harmful effect on teeth.

Useful For Diabetics

Diabetics may incorporate products containing Acesulfame Potassium into their balanced diet, especially since studies show that Acesulfame Potassium has no effect on serum glucose, cholesterol, total glycerol or free glycerol levels.

Safety

As many as 90 studies, have confirmed the safety of Acesulfame Potassium. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, after numerous studies, determined its safety for the intended use and permitted its use. It then set an acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 15 milligrams of Acesulfame Potassium per kilogram of body weight. ADI, expressed in terms of body weight, is the amount of a food additive that can be taken daily in the diet over a lifetime without risk. The FDA also approved the use of Acesulfame Potassium in liquid non-alcoholic beverages (soft drinks) in 1998.

The Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), the scientific advisory body to the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and The Scientific Committee for Food of the European Union also confirm the safety of Acesulfame Potassium.

Future

Acesulfame Potassium's taste, stability and solubility make it suitable for numerous products. Tests have shown that it performs well in juices, fruit preparations and dairy products, baking - with an especially large market for low-calorie sweeteners - toothpaste, mouthwashes and pharmaceuticals. The availability of a variety of low-calorie sweeteners will expand the market to provide products with improved taste, increased stability, lower manufacturing costs, and, ultimately, more choices for the consumer.