Queen Nwabueze
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The World Health Organization (WHO), has announced that nutritive sweeteners should ‘not be used as a means of achieving weight control or reducing risk of non-communicable diseases.
This comes at a time when these sugar alternatives have risen in popularity especially among health conscious consumers seeking to cut down on their sugar consumption.
According to a review of global market sales data spanning 2007 to 2019 by researchers at Australia’s Deakin University, volume of low-calorie sweeteners consumed from beverages by an individual has risen 36% during the last decade.
These “non-nutritive” sweeteners include artificial varieties such as aspartame and Acesulfame-K, as well as natural options like stevia and monk fruit.
The data also revealed that the number of added sugars from beverage sales also has risen globally, driven mainly by a 50% increase in middle-income countries such as India and China, according to the research.
Meanwhile, per-person volumes of added sugars in drinks fell 22% in high-income countries like the U.S. and Australia.
While food formulators are proud of the finding of these review as it shows progress in creating healthier and better tasting products, the WHO is not.
In draft guideline published in July, the world health body suggested that non-sugar sweeteners not be used as a means of achieving weight control or reducing risk of noncommunicable diseases.
To back its claims, the WHO said that these sweeteners are frequently used to make ‘highly processed’ low sugar or sugar-free junk foods, rather than encouraging fundamental shifts towards a healthier dietary pattern rich in whole foods.
“Because free [ie. added] sugars are often found in highly processed foods and beverages with undesirable nutritional profiles, simply replacing free sugars with non-sugar sweeteners results in a food or beverage in which any other unhealthy elements are mostly retained, and as a result, the overall quality of the diet remains largely unaffected,” the WHO said.
WHO further noted that any short-term benefits in the form of weight loss from using non-nutritive sweeteners are outweighed by the “possible long-term undesirable effects.”
Previously, Researchers have also raised issue with non-nutritive sweeteners which, despite being low-calorie, have been linked to health issues like type 2 diabetes and heart disease and can disrupt the gut microbiome.
WHO sentiments have however received a strong backlash from the industry with many expressing their disappointment and choosing to stick to research that supports the claim that non-nutritive sweeteners are effective in calorie and sugar management.
The Calorie Control Council said it was “disappointed” by the recommendation adding that low and no calorie sweeteners “have been proven to assist in body weight and blood glucose level management, as well as calorie and sugar intake reduction.”
Dr Rachel Cheatham, founder of food and nutrition consultancy FoodScape Group wrapped it up by saying: “This doesn’t mean consumers should necessarily try to completely avoid non-sugar sweeteners in their diet. Rather, there should be no expectation that regular consumption of non-sugar sweeteners will aid in weight management or disease prevention.”
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