Artificial sweeteners: Are They Safe and Effective?
People benefit greatly from the availability of natural sweeteners that don't harm their health. Since there were few alternatives and a distinctive aftertaste that used to ruin the sweet pleasure, their adoption might have been gradual. The market currently offers more recent natural sweetener options, so things are about to get fascinating.
Due to their lower calorie content and other benefits, foods without sugar are often well-liked. As a result, a range of artificial sweeteners have replaced fatty sugar in the food business. Artificial sweeteners are sweet-tasting sugar substitutes that are produced synthetically.
Artificial sweeteners are becoming increasingly popular as a sugar substitute. The rising prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, combined with increased consumer knowledge, has resulted in a continuous paradigm shift towards the usage of low-calorie artificial sweeteners.
On the contrary, artificial sweeteners have a negative effect and excessive use can lead to diabetes, which interferes with the body's capacity to regulate blood sugar. Constant use of artificial sweeteners might cause gastrointestinal problems like diarrhoea and bloating. High-intensity sweeteners like saccharin and aspartame induce leukaemia and other blood-related illnesses, which can be fatal
Preference for Low- or Zero-Calorie Foods and Beverages is Growing
As health-conscious customers seek low- or zero-calorie versions of food and beverages, the use of artificial sweeteners is expanding. This increases the demand for artificial sweeteners.
In response to customer demand, food manufacturers are using high-intensity artificial sweeteners to develop light foods with lower calories and enticing flavour profiles.
Sugar-free gums, for example, have shown significant sales growth when compared to normal gums.
Artificial sweeteners are also included in tabletop sweeteners, diet beverages, frozen dairy products, and yoghurt. City inhabitants struggle to maintain a healthy lifestyle due to their sedentary and hectic lifestyles. This usually results in harmful habits such as inconsistent meals and the consumption of sugary drinks to quench thirst and hunger at unsuitable times. Low-calorie drinks are projected to grow popularity as the world's population becomes more obese.
Artificial Sweeteners on the Rise in India
India is the world's second largest producer of sugar and its largest consumer, with much of it going into sweetmeats. The greatest problem that the Indian sweetener business faces in trying to expand its user base is Indians' reluctance to shift from what has essentially been their way of life for centuries - especially when the issue is health-related.
Social and peer pressure might sometimes make it difficult for a person to stick to his regimen. With rising awareness of the link between food and health and the problem of obesity, consumer concern over sugar levels in the diet is prompting a worldwide trend towards sugar reduction.
Although the move away from sugar is still years away, low-calorie sweeteners are becoming more popular. The trend towards artificial sweeteners and sugar alternatives is growing. New-age safe sweeteners are driving the global market for sugar replacements.
Businesses that invest in product innovations to improve and analyse their product portfolio through technical advancements in order to acquire diverse formulations, flavour, and dispensability at all levels are to create opportunities that will pave the way for the market's growth.
Artificial sweeteners are synthetically produced sugar substitutes for adding sweetness to various products and foods. Some major artificial sweeteners include aspartame, acefultame potassium, monosodium glutamate, sucralose, saccharin, and sodium benzoate. Artificial sweeteners are also calledintense sweeteners as they are several times sweeter thanregular sugar.These are potential alternatives to sugar as they add virtually no calories to one’s diet and also help to keep blood sugar levels low.
Artificial sweeteners are widely used in processed foods, including baked goods, powdered drink mixes, candy, puddings, jams and jellies, dairy products, and a plethora of other foods and beverages. The market can be segmented by application into bakery items, dairy products, confectionary, beverages, and others. Demand for low-calorie food items in various verticals of the food service industry has triggered growth of the artificial sweeteners market across globe. Demand for artificial sweetenerswitnessed rapid growth in the past few decades due to growing diabetes, obesity, and other health issues.
Researchers are continuously working on the efficacy of artificial sweeteners and discovered that these products can potentially disrupt the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar, which in turn can trigger diabetes.Artificial sweeteners such as SweetˈN Low (saccharin), NutraSweet (aspartame), and Equal account for major market share in the U.S. These brands have witnessed continuous decline in market share from 2010 to 2013, which shows that the market for artificial sweeteners is shrinking in North America. However, the market for artificial sweeteners is growing moderately in emerging economies.
Tate & Lyle, Ingredion, Roquette, Archer Daniels Midland Company, and Cargill, Inc. are among the top five players in this market.
