Printed in Great Britain. Q 1997 IUPAC Dental aspects of the use of sweeteners

Three main health benefits have been identified as reasons for replacing sugars in the diet by alternative sweeteners. These are 1. For calorie control. Obesity is the most serious nutritional disorder facing developed countries today. Intense or high-potency sweeteners allow consumption patterns to remain unchanged while calorie intake can be reduced. 2. For diabetics. The sweet taste of foods and drinks can be maintained while sugar intake is cut down. 3. For dental health. The incidence of dental caries is related to the frequency of sugar intake. The use of alternative sweeteners can help to limit sugar intake. It is this third property that will form the subject of this paper. Much has been written about the harmful consequences of excessive sugar or sucrose consumption on health, but careful investigations of the allegations against it have concluded that its only proven adverse effect is its cariogenic (dental decay-causing) action (refs. 1 and 2). This has led to the promotion of non-sugar sweeteners as replacements fo