The science of taste is confusing. We think of certain foods as having certain tastes. By extension, we think those foods represent those tastes. But our taste buds do not react to foods, they react to food compounds. To explain further, here is my informal answer to a related Quora question: “How do artificial sweeteners … Read more
This is the third article in a series of articles about the artificial sweetener aspartame. You may want to first read about how aspartame was invented and how it’s made, as well as the warning on phenylketonurics regarding aspartame. As stated previously, aspartame is the subject of a protracted “mythinformation” campaign, causing many to unreasonably fear and malign … Read more
Diet drinks and any other products that contain aspartame must bear the following health warning: “Phenylketonurics: Contains Phenylalanine.” This has led many to jump to the conclusion that phenylalanine is poisonous. Why else would they put a warning about it on a label? Well, this warning exists because phenylalanine is dangerous to some people who have a very … Read more
Aspartame is an artificial sweetener used in many sugar-free or diet food and beverage products, most famously in Diet Coke, which is also available with Splenda. This non-nutritive sugar substitute gets such a great deal of bad press and is the subject of a very intensive misinformation campaign. ♥♥♥♥♥ Low on time? Click here to zoom to … Read more
If you’ve checked the ingredient label on a diet soda or a protein shake lately, you’ve likely seen Acesulfame Potassium (also known as Ace-K). Although it tastes up to 200 times sweeter than sugar, manufacturers almost never use it alone Because of its unique ability to blend with other sweeteners like Aspartame. Ace-K has become … Read more
If you’ve ever eaten sugar-free candies, especially hard candies marketed to diabetics, then you may have had sugar alcohols. They are sweeteners like sorbitol, mannitol, malitol, xylitol, lactitol, and isomalt. Besides hard candies, they are also used in sugarless gum, cookies, and jams and jellies. Sugar alcohols are also called polyols. They are alternative sweeteners like artificial or nonnutritive sweeteners, but they are not … Read more