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69-401: The perceived intensity of sugars and high-potency sweeteners, such as aspartame and neohesperidin dihydrochalcone , are heritable, with gene effect accounting for approximately 30% of the variation. The chemosensory basis for detecting sweetness, which varies between both individuals and species, has only begun to be understood since the late 20th century. One theoretical model of sweetness

138-489: A G-protein coupled receptor that is the sweetness receptor in mammals. Human studies have shown that sweet taste receptors are not only found in the tongue, but also in the lining of the gastrointestinal tract as well as the nasal epithelium, pancreatic islet cells, sperm and testes. It is proposed that the presence of sweet taste receptors in the GI tract controls the feeling of hunger and satiety. Another research has shown that

207-427: A baking sweetener and prone to degradation in products hosting a high pH, as required for a long shelf life. The stability of aspartame under heating can be improved to some extent by encasing it in fats or in maltodextrin . The stability when dissolved in water depends markedly on pH. At room temperature, it is most stable at pH 4.3, where its half-life is nearly 300 days. At pH 7, however, its half-life

276-436: A chemical as inorganic does not necessarily mean that it cannot occur within living things. Friedrich Wöhler 's conversion of ammonium cyanate into urea in 1828 is often cited as the starting point of modern organic chemistry . In Wöhler's era, there was widespread belief that organic compounds were characterized by a vital spirit . In the absence of vitalism, the distinction between inorganic and organic chemistry

345-452: A corresponding AH-B unit on the biological sweetness receptor to produce the sensation of sweetness. B-X theory was proposed by Lemont Kier in 1972. While previous researchers had noted that among some groups of compounds, there seemed to be a correlation between hydrophobicity and sweetness. This theory formalized these observations by proposing that to be sweet, a compound must have a third binding site (labeled X) that could interact with

414-472: A hydrophobic site on the sweetness receptor via London dispersion forces . Later researchers have statistically analyzed the distances between the presumed AH, B, and X sites in several families of sweet substances to estimate the distances between these interaction sites on the sweetness receptor. The most elaborate theory of sweetness to date is the multipoint attachment theory (MPA) proposed by Jean-Marie Tinti and Claude Nofre in 1991. This theory involves

483-620: A range of methodological variables, from sampling to analysis and interpretation. Indeed, the taste index of 1, assigned to reference substances such as sucrose (for sweetness), hydrochloric acid (for sourness), quinine (for bitterness), and sodium chloride (for saltiness), is itself arbitrary for practical purposes. Some values, such as those for maltose and glucose, vary little. Others, such as aspartame and sodium saccharin, have much larger variation. Even some inorganic compounds are sweet, including beryllium chloride and lead(II) acetate . The latter may have contributed to lead poisoning among

552-538: A safe upper limit. The primary source for exposure to aspartame in the US is diet soft drinks , though it can be consumed in other products, such as pharmaceutical preparations, fruit drinks, and chewing gum among others in smaller quantities. A 12-US-fluid-ounce (350 ml; 12 imp fl oz) can of diet soda contains 0.18 grams (0.0063 oz) of aspartame, and, for a 75-kilogram (165 lb) adult, it takes approximately 21 cans of diet soda daily to consume

621-439: A total of eight interaction sites between a sweetener and the sweetness receptor, although not all sweeteners interact with all eight sites. This model has successfully directed efforts aimed at finding highly potent sweeteners, including the most potent family of sweeteners known to date, the guanidine sweeteners. The most potent of these, lugduname , is about 225,000 times sweeter than sucrose. Aspartame Aspartame

690-555: Is stevioside , from the South American shrub Stevia rebaudiana . It is roughly 250 times sweeter than sucrose. Another class of potent natural sweeteners are the sweet proteins such as thaumatin , found in the West African katemfe fruit. Hen egg lysozyme , an antibiotic protein found in chicken eggs , is also sweet. Some variation in values is not uncommon between various studies. Such variations may arise from

759-504: Is a tendency to prefer immature leaves, which tend to be higher in protein and lower in fibre and poisons than mature leaves. The "sweet tooth" thus has an ancient heritage, and while food processing has changed consumption patterns, human physiology remains largely unchanged. Biologically, a variant in fibroblast growth factor 21 increases craving for sweet foods. A great diversity of chemical compounds , such as aldehydes and ketones , are sweet. Among common biological substances, all of

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828-513: Is actually linked to cancer. The FDA disagrees with IARC's conclusion that these studies support classifying aspartame as a possible carcinogen to humans. FDA scientists reviewed the scientific information included in IARC's review in 2021 when it was first made available and identified significant shortcomings in the studies on which IARC relied. Reviews found no evidence that low doses of aspartame had neurotoxic effects. A 2019 policy statement by

897-461: Is an artificial non- saccharide sweetener 200 times sweeter than sucrose and is commonly used as a sugar substitute in foods and beverages. It is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid / phenylalanine dipeptide with brand names NutraSweet , Equal , and Canderel . Aspartame was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1974, and then again in 1981, after approval

966-499: Is an ingredient in approximately 6,000 consumer foods and beverages sold worldwide, including (but not limited to) diet sodas and other soft drinks , instant breakfasts , breath mints , cereals , sugar-free chewing gum , cocoa mixes, frozen desserts , gelatin desserts , juices , laxatives , chewable vitamin supplements , milk drinks, pharmaceutical drugs and supplements, shake mixes, tabletop sweeteners, teas , instant coffees , topping mixes, wine coolers , and yogurt . It

1035-678: Is defined as the "amount of a food additive, expressed on a body weight basis, that can be ingested daily over a lifetime without appreciable health risk". The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and the European Commission 's Scientific Committee on Food (later becoming EFSA ) have determined this value is 40 mg/kg of body weight per day for aspartame, while the FDA has set its ADI for aspartame at 50 mg/kg per day – an amount equated to consuming 75 packets of commercial aspartame sweetener per day to be within

1104-505: Is due to its binding of the heterodimer G protein-coupled receptor formed by the proteins TAS1R2 and TAS1R3 . Rodents do not experience aspartame as sweet-tasting, due to differences in their taste receptors. Aspartame is rapidly hydrolyzed in the small intestine by digestive enzymes which break aspartame down into methanol , phenylalanine , aspartic acid , and further metabolites, such as formaldehyde and formic acid . Due to its rapid and complete metabolism, aspartame

1173-400: Is not found in circulating blood, even following ingestion of high doses over 200 mg/kg. Aspartic acid (aspartate) is one of the most common amino acids in the typical diet. As with methanol and phenylalanine, intake of aspartic acid from aspartame is less than would be expected from other dietary sources. At the 90th percentile of intake, aspartame provides only between 1% and 2% of

1242-494: Is only a few days. Most soft-drinks have a pH between 3 and 5, where aspartame is reasonably stable. In products that may require a longer shelf life, such as syrups for fountain beverages , aspartame is sometimes blended with a more stable sweetener, such as saccharin . Descriptive analyses of solutions containing aspartame report a sweet aftertaste as well as bitter and off-flavor aftertastes. The acceptable daily intake (ADI) value for food additives, including aspartame,

1311-406: Is perceived as sweetness for up to an hour afterwards. While curculin has some innate sweet taste of its own, miraculin is by itself quite tasteless. Despite the wide variety of chemical substances known to be sweet, and knowledge that the ability to perceive sweet taste must reside in taste buds on the tongue , the biomolecular mechanism of sweet taste was sufficiently elusive that as recently as

1380-469: Is provided as a table condiment in some countries. Aspartame is less suitable for baking than other sweeteners because it breaks down when heated and loses much of its sweetness. In 1985, Monsanto bought G.D.   Searle, and the aspartame business became a separate Monsanto subsidiary, NutraSweet . In March 2000, Monsanto sold it to J.W. Childs Associates Equity Partners II L.P. European use patents on aspartame expired beginning in 1987, with

1449-417: Is quite variable. New World monkeys do not find aspartame sweet, while Old World monkeys and apes (including most humans) all do. Felids like domestic cats cannot perceive sweetness at all. The ability to taste sweetness often atrophies genetically in species of carnivores who do not eat sweet foods like fruits, including bottlenose dolphins , sea lions , spotted hyenas and fossas . To depolarize

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1518-415: Is roughly three times sweeter by weight, at around $ 300 per kilogram ($ 140/lb). Inorganic compound An inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds ⁠ ‍ — ‍ that is, a compound that is not an organic compound . The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as inorganic chemistry . Inorganic compounds comprise most of

1587-444: Is the multipoint attachment theory , which involves multiple binding sites between a sweetness receptor and a sweet substance. Studies indicate that responsiveness to sugars and sweetness has very ancient evolutionary beginnings, being manifest as chemotaxis even in motile bacteria such as E. coli . Newborn human infants also demonstrate preferences for high sugar concentrations and prefer solutions that are sweeter than lactose ,

1656-596: The American Academy of Pediatrics concluded that there were no safety concerns about aspartame in fetal or childhood development or as a factor in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder . Reviews have found little evidence to indicate that aspartame induces headaches, although certain subsets of consumers may be sensitive to it. Aspartame passes through wastewater treatment plants mainly unchanged. The perceived sweetness of aspartame (and other sweet substances like acesulfame potassium ) in humans

1725-652: The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) concluded, since many problems with the aspartame studies were minor and did not affect the conclusions, the studies could be used to assess aspartame's safety. In 1980, the FDA convened a Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) consisting of independent advisors charged with examining the purported relationship between aspartame and brain cancer . The PBOI concluded aspartame does not cause brain damage, but it recommended against approving aspartame at that time, citing unanswered questions about cancer in laboratory rats. In 1983,

1794-681: The Earth's crust , although the compositions of the deep mantle remain active areas of investigation. All allotropes (structurally different pure forms of an element) and some simple carbon compounds are often considered inorganic. Examples include the allotropes of carbon ( graphite , diamond , buckminsterfullerene , graphene , etc.), carbon monoxide CO , carbon dioxide CO 2 , carbides , and salts of inorganic anions such as carbonates , cyanides , cyanates , thiocyanates , isothiocyanates , etc. Many of these are normal parts of mostly organic systems, including organisms ; describing

1863-694: The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Health Canada , and Food Standards Australia New Zealand . As of 2017, reviews of clinical trials showed that using aspartame (or other non-nutritive sweeteners) in place of sugar reduces calorie intake and body weight in adults and children. A 2017 review of metabolic effects by consuming aspartame found that it did not affect blood glucose , insulin , total cholesterol , triglycerides , calorie intake, or body weight. While high-density lipoprotein levels were higher compared to control, they were lower compared to sucrose. In 2023,

1932-423: The N -formyl aspartic anhydride; then the protecting group is removed from aspartic nitrogen by acid hydrolysis. The drawback of this technique is that a byproduct, the bitter-tasting β-form, is produced when the wrong carboxyl group from aspartic acid anhydride links to phenylalanine, with desired and undesired isomer forming in a 4:1 ratio. A process using an enzyme from Bacillus thermoproteolyticus to catalyze

2001-496: The World Health Organization recommended against the use of common non-sugar sweeteners (NSS), including aspartame, to control body weight or lower the risk of non-communicable diseases , stating: "The recommendation is based on the findings of a systematic review of the available evidence which suggests that use of NSS does not confer any long-term benefit in reducing body fat in adults or children. Results of

2070-556: The ancient Roman aristocracy: the Roman delicacy sapa was prepared by boiling soured wine (containing acetic acid ) in lead pots. Hundreds of synthetic organic compounds are known to be sweet, but only a few of these are legally permitted as food additives. For example, chloroform , nitrobenzene , and ethylene glycol are sweet, but also toxic. Saccharin , cyclamate , aspartame , acesulfame potassium , sucralose , alitame , and neotame are commonly used. A few substances alter

2139-446: The peptide bonds are also hydrolyzed, resulting in free amino acids. Two approaches to synthesis are used commercially. In the chemical synthesis, the two carboxyl groups of aspartic acid are joined into an anhydride, and the amino group is protected with a formyl group as the formamide, by treatment of aspartic acid with a mixture of formic acid and acetic anhydride. Phenylalanine is converted to its methyl ester and combined with

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2208-452: The "potential risk of aspartame causing damage to genes and inducing cancer" and deemed the amount found in diet sodas safe to consume. The safety of aspartame has been studied since its discovery, and it is a rigorously tested food ingredient. Aspartame has been deemed safe for human consumption by over 100 regulatory agencies in their respective countries, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), UK Food Standards Agency ,

2277-414: The 1980s, with EU-wide approval in 1994. The Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) reviewed subsequent safety studies and reaffirmed the approval in 2002. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reported in 2006 that the previously established Acceptable daily intake (ADI) was appropriate, after reviewing yet another set of studies. Under the brand names Equal , NutraSweet , and Canderel , aspartame

2346-480: The 1990s, there was some doubt whether any single "sweetness receptor" actually exists. The breakthrough for the present understanding of sweetness occurred in 2001, when experiments with laboratory mice showed that mice possessing different versions of the gene T1R3 prefer sweet foods to different extents. Subsequent research has shown that the T1R3 protein forms a complex with a related protein, called T1R2 , to form

2415-602: The 3.7 grams (0.13 oz) of aspartame that would surpass the FDA's 50 mg/kg of body weight ADI of aspartame from diet soda alone. Reviews have analyzed studies which have looked at the consumption of aspartame in countries worldwide, including the US , countries in Europe , and Australia , among others. These reviews have found that even the high levels of intake of aspartame, studied across multiple countries and different methods of measuring aspartame consumption, are well below

2484-519: The ADI for safe consumption of aspartame. Reviews have also found that populations that are believed to be especially high consumers of aspartame, such as children and diabetics, are below the ADI for safe consumption, even considering extreme worst-case scenario calculations of consumption. In a report released on 10 December 2013, the EFSA said that, after an extensive examination of evidence, it ruled out

2553-610: The FDA and EFSA, and the US National Cancer Institute , have concluded that consuming aspartame is safe in amounts within acceptable daily intake levels and does not cause cancer. These conclusions are based on various sources of evidence, such as reviews and epidemiological studies finding no association between aspartame and cancer. In July 2023, scientists for the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that there

2622-462: The FDA approved aspartame for use in carbonated beverages and for use in other beverages, baked goods, and confections in 1993. In 1996, the FDA removed all restrictions from aspartame, allowing it to be used in all foods. As of May 2023, the FDA stated that it regards aspartame as a safe food ingredient when consumed within the acceptable daily intake level of 50 mg per kg of body weight per day. Several European Union countries approved aspartame in

2691-489: The Holland Sweetener Company manufactured aspartame using the enzymatic process developed by Toyo Soda (Tosoh) and sold as the brand Sanecta. Additionally, they developed a combination aspartame-acesulfame salt under the brand name Twinsweet. They left the sweetener industry in 2006, because "global aspartame markets are facing structural oversupply, which has caused worldwide strong price erosion over

2760-703: The US must state: "Phenylketonurics: Contains Phenylalanine" on product labels. In the UK, foods that contain aspartame are required by the Food Standards Agency to list the substance as an ingredient, with the warning "Contains a source of phenylalanine". Manufacturers are also required to print "with sweetener(s)" on the label close to the main product name on foods that contain "sweeteners such as aspartame" or "with sugar and sweetener(s)" on "foods that contain both sugar and sweetener". In Canada, foods that contain aspartame are required to list aspartame among

2829-433: The US patent following suit in 1992. In 2004, the market for aspartame, in which Ajinomoto , the world's largest aspartame manufacturer, had a 40% share, was 14,000 metric tons (15,000 short tons; 14,000 long tons) a year, and consumption of the product was rising by 2% a year. Ajinomoto acquired its aspartame business in 2000 from Monsanto for $ 67 million (equivalent to $ 113 million in 2023 ). In 2007, Asda

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2898-604: The amounts produced routinely by the human body and from other foods and drugs. At the highest expected human doses of consumption of aspartame, there are no increased blood levels of methanol or formic acid, and ingesting aspartame at the 90th percentile of intake would produce 25 times less methanol than what would be considered toxic. Aspartame is a methyl ester of the dipeptide of the natural amino acids L - aspartic acid and L - phenylalanine . Under strongly acidic or alkaline conditions, aspartame may generate methanol by hydrolysis . Under more severe conditions,

2967-612: The blood and brain that could lead to neurological symptoms. Reviews of the literature have found no consistent findings to support such concerns, and, while high doses of aspartame consumption may have some biochemical effects, these effects are not seen in toxicity studies to suggest aspartame can adversely affect neuronal function. As with methanol and aspartic acid, common foods in the typical diet, such as milk, meat, and fruits, will lead to ingestion of significantly higher amounts of phenylalanine than would be expected from aspartame consumption. As of 2023 , regulatory agencies, including

3036-517: The carcinogenic hazard that may or may not be posed by aspartame consumption." The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) added that the limited cancer assessment indicated no reason to change the recommended acceptable daily intake level of 40 mg per kg of body weight per day, reaffirming the safety of consuming aspartame within this limit. The FDA responded to the report by stating: Aspartame being labeled by IARC as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" does not mean that aspartame

3105-401: The cell, and ultimately generate a response, the body uses different cells in the taste bud that each express a receptor for the perception of sweet, sour, salty, bitter or umami . Downstream of the taste receptor , the taste cells for sweet, bitter and umami share the same intracellular signalling pathway. Incoming sweet molecules bind to their receptors, which causes a conformational change in

3174-412: The condensation of the chemically altered amino acids will produce high yields without the β-form byproduct. A variant of this method, which has not been used commercially, uses unmodified aspartic acid but produces low yields. Methods for directly producing aspartyl-phenylalanine by enzymatic means, followed by chemical methylation, have also been tried but not scaled for industrial production. Aspartame

3243-444: The daily intake of aspartic acid. The methanol produced by aspartame metabolism is unlikely to be a safety concern for several reasons. The amount of methanol produced from aspartame-sweetened foods and beverages is likely to be less than that from food sources already in diets. With regard to formaldehyde, it is rapidly converted in the body, and the amounts of formaldehyde from the metabolism of aspartame are trivial when compared to

3312-437: The decision, allowing Ajinomoto to pursue a case against Asda to protect aspartame's reputation. Asda said that it would continue to use the term "no nasties" on its own-label products, but the suit was settled in 2011 with Asda choosing to remove references to aspartame from its packaging. In November 2009, Ajinomoto announced a new brand name for its aspartame sweetener — AminoSweet. A joint venture of DSM and Tosoh ,

3381-495: The depolarization and releases ATP neurotransmitter which activates the afferent neurons innervating the taste bud. The color of food can affect sweetness perception. Adding more red color to a drink increases its perceived sweetness. In a study darker colored solutions were rated 2–10% higher than lighter ones despite having 1% less sucrose concentration. The effect of color is believed to be due to cognitive expectations. Some odors smell sweet and memory confuses whether sweetness

3450-461: The development of aspartame as an artificial sweetener . In 1975, prompted by issues regarding Flagyl and Aldactone , an FDA task force team reviewed 25 studies submitted by the manufacturer, including 11 on aspartame. The team reported "serious deficiencies in Searle's operations and practices". The FDA sought to authenticate 15 of the submitted studies against the supporting data. In 1979,

3519-462: The early 20th century, the theory of sweetness enjoyed little further academic attention until 1963, when Robert Shallenberger and Terry Acree proposed the AH-B theory of sweetness. Simply put, they proposed that to be sweet, a compound must contain a hydrogen bond donor (AH) and a Lewis base (B) separated by about 0.3 nanometres . According to this theory, the AH-B unit of a sweetener binds with

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3588-443: The ingredients, include the amount of aspartame per serving, and state that the product contains phenylalanine. Phenylalanine is one of the essential amino acids and is required for normal growth and maintenance of life. Concerns about the safety of phenylalanine from aspartame for those without phenylketonuria center largely on hypothetical changes in neurotransmitter levels as well as ratios of neurotransmitters to each other in

3657-433: The larger compounds. In 1919, Oertly and Myers proposed a more elaborate theory based on a then-current theory of color in synthetic dyes. They hypothesized that to be sweet, a compound must contain one each of two classes of structural motif, a glucophore and an auxogluc . Based on those compounds known to be sweet at the time, they proposed a list of six candidate glucophores and nine auxoglucs. From these beginnings in

3726-465: The last five years", making the business "persistently unprofitable". Because sucralose , unlike aspartame, retains its sweetness after being heated, and has at least twice the shelf life of aspartame, it has become more popular as an ingredient. This, along with differences in marketing and changing consumer preferences, caused aspartame to lose market share to sucralose. In 2004, aspartame traded at about $ 30 per kilogram ($ 14/lb) and sucralose, which

3795-522: The leaves of the Indian vine Gymnema sylvestre and ziziphin , from the leaves of the Chinese jujube ( Ziziphus jujuba ). Gymnemic acid has been widely promoted within herbal medicine as a treatment for sugar cravings and diabetes. On the other hand, two plant proteins, miraculin and curculin , cause sour foods to taste sweet. Once the tongue has been exposed to either of these proteins, sourness

3864-573: The molecule. This change activates the G-protein, gustducin, which in turn activates phospholipase C to generate inositol trisphosphate ( IP 3 ), this subsequently opens the IP 3 -receptor and induces calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum. This increase in intracellular calcium activates the TRPM5 channel and induces cellular depolarization . The ATP release channel CALHM1 gets activated by

3933-516: The quantity of aspartame needed to produce the same sweetness is so small that its caloric contribution is negligible. The sweetness of aspartame lasts longer than that of sucrose, so it is often blended with other artificial sweeteners such as acesulfame potassium to produce an overall taste more like that of sugar. Like many other peptides , aspartame may hydrolyze (break down) into its constituent amino acids under conditions of elevated temperature or high pH . This makes aspartame undesirable as

4002-505: The review also suggest that there may be potential undesirable effects from long-term use of NSS, such as an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality in adults." High levels of the naturally occurring essential amino acid phenylalanine are a health hazard to those born with phenylketonuria (PKU), a rare inherited disease that prevents phenylalanine from being properly metabolized. Because aspartame contains phenylalanine, foods containing aspartame sold in

4071-437: The simple carbohydrates are sweet to at least some degree. Sucrose (table sugar) is the prototypical example of a sweet substance. Sucrose in solution has a sweetness perception rating of 1, and other substances are rated relative to this. For example, another sugar, fructose , is somewhat sweeter, being rated at 1.7 times the sweetness of sucrose. Some of the amino acids are mildly sweet: alanine , glycine , and serine are

4140-708: The sugar found in breast milk. Sweetness appears to have the highest taste recognition threshold , being detectable at around 1 part in 200 of sucrose in solution. By comparison, bitterness appears to have the lowest detection threshold, at about 1 part in 2 million for quinine in solution. In the natural settings that human primate ancestors evolved in, sweetness intensity should indicate energy density , while bitterness tends to indicate toxicity . The high sweetness detection threshold and low bitterness detection threshold would have predisposed our primate ancestors to seek out sweet-tasting (and energy-dense) foods and avoid bitter-tasting foods. Even amongst leaf-eating primates, there

4209-469: The sweetest. Some other amino acids are perceived as both sweet and bitter. The sweetness of 5% solution of glycine in water compares to a solution of 5.6% glucose or 2.6% fructose. A number of plant species produce glycosides that are sweet at concentrations much lower than common sugars. The most well-known example is glycyrrhizin , the sweet component of licorice root, which is about 30 times sweeter than sucrose. Another commercially important example

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4278-417: The threshold of sweet taste perception is in direct correlation with the time of day. This is believed to be the consequence of oscillating leptin levels in blood that may impact the overall sweetness of food. Scientists hypothesize that this is an evolutionary relict of diurnal animals like humans. Sweetness perception may differ between species significantly. For example, even amongst the primates sweetness

4347-504: The way sweet taste is perceived. One class of these inhibits the perception of sweet tastes, whether from sugars or from highly potent sweeteners. Commercially, the most important of these is lactisole , a compound produced by Domino Sugar . It is used in some jellies and other fruit preserves to bring out their fruit flavors by suppressing their otherwise strong sweetness. Two natural products have been documented to have similar sweetness-inhibiting properties: gymnemic acid , extracted from

4416-443: Was discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter, a chemist working for G.D. Searle & Company . Schlatter had synthesized aspartame as an intermediate step in generating a tetrapeptide of the hormone gastrin , for use in assessing an anti- ulcer drug candidate. He discovered its sweet taste when he licked his finger, which had become contaminated with aspartame, to lift up a piece of paper. Torunn Atteraas Garin participated in

4485-424: Was "limited evidence" for aspartame causing cancer in humans, classifying the sweetener as Group 2B (possibly carcinogenic). The lead investigator of the IARC report stated that the classification "shouldn't really be taken as a direct statement that indicates that there is a known cancer hazard from consuming aspartame. This is really more of a call to the research community to try to better clarify and understand

4554-457: Was made by a German chemist, Georg Cohn, in 1914. He hypothesized that to evoke a certain taste, a molecule must contain some structural motif (called a sapophore ) that produces that taste. With regard to sweetness, he noted that molecules containing multiple hydroxyl groups and those containing chlorine atoms are often sweet, and that among a series of structurally similar compounds, those with smaller molecular weights were often sweeter than

4623-480: Was revoked in 1980. Aspartame is one of the most studied food additives in the human food supply. Reviews by over 100 governmental regulatory bodies found the ingredient safe for consumption at the normal acceptable daily intake limit. Aspartame is about 180 to 200 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar). Due to this property, even though aspartame produces roughly the same energy per gram when metabolized as sucrose does, 4 kcal (17 kJ),

4692-442: Was tasted or smelled. The development of organic chemistry in the 19th century introduced many new chemical compounds and the means to determine their molecular structures . Early organic chemists tasted many of their products, either intentionally (as a means of characterization) or accidentally (due to poor laboratory hygiene). One of the first attempts to draw systematic correlations between molecules' structures and their tastes

4761-429: Was the first British supermarket chain to remove all artificial flavourings and colours in its store brand foods. In 2008, Ajinomoto sued Asda, part of Walmart , for a malicious falsehood action concerning its aspartame product when the substance was listed as excluded from the chain's product line, along with other "nasties". In July 2009, a British court ruled in favor of Asda. In June 2010, an appeals court reversed

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