Sweeter-than-sugar product approved

FDA Consumer, July-August, 1998

Sucralose, a new sugar-like sweetener, has been approved for use in a wide variety of food products.

A "high intensity" sweetener that is about 600 times sweeter than sugar, sucralose is made from a process that begins with sucrose, or table sugar. Like sugar, the new product is a free-flowing, water-soluble, white crystalline powder.

FDA approved sucralose April 1 for use in baked goods, baking mixes, nonalcoholic beverages, chewing gum, coffee and tea products, confections and frostings, fats and oils, frozen dairy desserts and mixes, fruit and water ices, gelatins, puddings and fillings, jams and jellies, milk products, processed fruits and fruit juices, sugar substitutes, sweet sauces, toppings, and syrups. It also can be a "table-top sweetener" that is added directly to foods.

FDA reviewed more than 110 studies in humans and animals in deciding on sucralose's safety.

Sucralose is manufactured by McNeil Specialty Products, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, N.J.