Aspartame

Aspartame is a low-calorie substance with a high degree of sweetening power, in fact, it’s 200 times sweeter than sucrose (the common table sugar), which is why small amounts are sufficient to sweeten foods and beverages. Aspartame is useful for those who suffer from diabetes and for people who want to reduce calorie intake. It was discovered in 1965 and has since been authorized in most parts of the world to be used in foods and as a table-top sweetener. Numerous studies confirm that aspartame is safe to use. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reassures aspartame consumers that it’s absolutely safe, even for children and pregnant and nursing women; this has also been established by the Joint FAO / WHO Committee on Food Activities (JECFA), the United Nations and the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The daily maximum recommended dosage is 40 mg per kilogram of body weight, which is well above the daily maximum recommended dosage of other authorized sweeteners. Aspartame is therefore the safest and the best tolerated sweetener.