Brussels, 17/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed the authorisation of two new intense sweeteners in the EU, sucralose and an aspartame-acesulfame salt.
The authorisation and use of intense sweeteners, like any other food additives, is harmonised at EU level. In accordance with EU legislation, food additives can only be permitted in the EU if they are safe, necessary from the technological point of view and if they are useful for consumers. The Scientific Committee on Food had already established the safety of the two sweeteners prior to the proposal being made on Wednesday. For sucralose, the committee set an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI - defined as the amount of a food additive that a human can ingest daily over a lifetime without incurring any appreciable health risks) of 15 mg/kg bodyweight. For the aspartame-acesulfame salt, the committee decided it was already covered by the safety evaluations of the two constituent sweeteners. Scrualose is approximately 600 times sweeter than sugar but has exactly the same aromatic qualities. It is already authorised in 40 countries outside the EU, including the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. It can be used for soft drinks, desserts and confectionery. The aspartame-acesulfame salt is a chemical combination of two already permitted intense sweeteners, aspartame and acesulfame K, in an equivalent mixture. Once dissolved, this salt behaves exactly like a solution of aspartame and acesulfame K. It can be used in chewing gum as an aid to prolonging sweetness. This proposal takes the form of an amendment to the 1994 directive concerning sweeteners used in foodstuffs, that will be put to the approval of the European Parliament and Council through codecision procedure.