Advantame

Advantame

Advantame

What is it:

Advantame is a non-nutritive, high-intensity artificial sweetener that is similar to aspartame, yet it is 20,000 times sweeter than sugar. It is produced through a process of chemical synthesis, which involves the modification of aspartame and vanillin to create a new compound. Chemical solvents including methanol and ethyl acetate are used during the synthesis process and are later removed through purification and filtration steps. Advantame is heat stable, meaning it can be used in high-temperature food processing and cooking. It is used as a sweetener in a variety of food and beverage products, including desserts, baked goods, and soft drinks.

Rating:

Advantame is not a naturally occurring sweetener that is created using a variety of chemicals. While present in very small amounts, Advantame may contain residues of lead and chemical solvents. While it has been deemed safe in many countries through various human and animal studies, it is a relatively newer sweetener that has no long-term studies. At very extreme levels, Advantame intake was associated with maternal toxicity and morbidity in rabbits. It is important to note that since Advantame is so sweet, use of it is only necessary in very small amounts.

Resources:

  1. Production of Advantame and chemical assessment
  2. European Food Safety Authority approval of Advantame as an additive
  3. New Zealand Risk and Technical Assessment Report for Advantame
  4. Advantame has no harmful effect on healthy volunteers (randomized controlled trial)

How we rate ingredients

Health is like a bank account, certain ingredients make a deposit into your health bank, meaning they add to
your health. Certain ingredients withdraw from your health bank. We want health promoting ingredients in our diet. To keep things simple, we rate ingredients on a green, yellow, red scale:

Clean

It is naturally occurring in food and has no harmful effects on the body. It is real food. It is health promoting.

Caution

It goes into one or more of the below categories

  • It is not naturally occurring in food but doesn’t have data showing it has a harmful effect on the body (additives like Gellan Gum)
  • It is naturally occurring but can have some harmful effects on the body (added sugars, oils, gums etc.)

We Avoid

It is known to have a harmful effect on the body (ex. All food colorings, Natural Flavors, MSG, Potassium bromate, aspartame, artificial flavors)

Top Ingredients To Avoid

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