Environmental life cycle assessment of production of the non-nutritive sweetener sucralose (E955) derived from cane sugar produced in the United States of America: The SWEET project

IF 4.9 3区 环境科学与生态学 Q2 ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment Pub Date : 2023-09-27 DOI:10.1007/s11367-023-02228-z
E. Blenkley, J. Suckling, S. Morse, R. Murphy, M. Raats, S. Astley, J. C. G. Halford, J. A. Harrold, A. Le-Bail, E. Koukouna, H. Musinovic, A. Raben, M. Roe, J. Scholten, C. Scott, C. Westbroek
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Abstract

Abstract Purpose There is increasing concern about the detrimental health effects of added sugar in food and drink products. Sweeteners are seen as a viable alternative. Much work has been done on health and safety of using sweeteners as a replacement for added sugar, but very little on their sustainability. This work aims to bridge that gap with a life cycle assessment (LCA) of sucralose derived from cane sugar grown in the United States of America (USA). Methods An attributional, cradle-to-gate LCA was conducted on sucralose production in the USA. Primary data were derived from literature for the chlorination process, and all other data from background sources. Results are reported via the ReCiPe 2016 (H) method, with focus given to land use, global warming potential (GWP), marine eutrophication, mineral resource scarcity, and water consumption. Because sucralose has a much greater perceived sweetness than sugar, impacts are expressed both in absolute terms of 1 kg mass and in relative sweetness equivalence terms to 1 kg sugar. Scenario modelling explores the sensitivity of the LCA results to change in key parameters. This research was conducted as part of the EU Horizon 2020 project SWEET (Sweeteners and sweetness enhancers: Impact on health, obesity, safety and sustainability). Results and discussion GWP for 1 kg sucralose was calculated to be 71.83 kgCO 2 -eq/kg (sugar from sugarcane is 0.77 kgCO 2 -eq/kg). However, on a sweetness equivalence basis, GWP of sucralose reduces to 0.12 kgCO 2 -eq/kg SE . Production of reagents was the main contributor to impact across most impact categories. Sugar (starting material for sucralose production) was not a majority contributor to any impact category, and changing the source of sugar has little effect upon net impact (average 2.0% variation). Instead, uncertainty in reference data is a greater source of variability: reagent use optimization reduces average impact of sucralose production by approximately 45.4%. In general, sucralose has reduced impact compared to sugar on an equivalent sweetness basis, however, due to data uncertainty, the reduction is not significant for all impact categories. Conclusion This LCA is the first for sucralose produced from cane sugar produced in the USA. Results indicate that sucralose has the potential to reduce the environmental impact of replacing the sweet taste of sugar. However, data were derived from literature and future collaboration with industry would help in reducing identified uncertainties. Accounting for functional use of sucralose in food and drink formulations is also necessary to fully understand the entire life cycle impact.
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从美国生产的蔗糖中提取的无营养甜味剂三氯蔗糖(E955)的生产环境生命周期评估:SWEET项目
在食品和饮料产品中添加糖对健康的有害影响越来越受到关注。甜味剂被视为一种可行的替代品。在使用甜味剂替代添加糖的健康和安全方面已经做了很多工作,但在它们的可持续性方面却很少。这项工作旨在通过对从美国种植的蔗糖中提取的三氯蔗糖的生命周期评估(LCA)来弥补这一差距。方法对美国三氯蔗糖生产过程进行归因性、从摇篮到大门的LCA分析。主要数据来自氯化过程的文献,所有其他数据来自背景资料。通过ReCiPe 2016 (H)方法报告结果,重点关注土地利用、全球变暖潜势(GWP)、海洋富营养化、矿产资源稀缺和水消耗。由于三氯蔗糖的感知甜度比糖大得多,因此影响可以用1公斤质量的绝对值和1公斤糖的相对甜度等效值来表示。情景建模探讨了LCA结果对关键参数变化的敏感性。这项研究是欧盟地平线2020项目SWEET(甜味剂和增甜剂:对健康、肥胖、安全和可持续性的影响)的一部分。计算出1 kg蔗糖的GWP为71.83 kgCO 2 -eq/kg(甘蔗制糖为0.77 kgCO 2 -eq/kg)。然而,在甜度等效的基础上,三氯蔗糖的GWP降低到0.12 kgCO 2 -eq/kg SE。在大多数影响类别中,生产试剂是影响的主要因素。糖(生产三氯蔗糖的起始原料)不是任何影响类别的主要贡献者,改变糖的来源对净影响的影响很小(平均2.0%的变化)。相反,参考数据中的不确定性是更大的可变性来源:试剂使用优化使三氯蔗糖生产的平均影响降低了约45.4%。一般来说,在同等甜度的基础上,三氯蔗糖的影响比糖小,然而,由于数据的不确定性,对所有影响类别的减少并不显著。结论该LCA是美国产蔗糖制备三氯蔗糖的首个LCA。结果表明,三氯蔗糖有可能取代糖的甜味,减少对环境的影响。然而,数据来源于文献和未来与工业界的合作将有助于减少确定的不确定性。考虑三氯蔗糖在食品和饮料配方中的功能用途也是必要的,以充分了解整个生命周期的影响。
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来源期刊
International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 环境科学-工程:环境
CiteScore
10.60
自引率
10.40%
发文量
100
审稿时长
8-16 weeks
期刊介绍: The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment (Int J Life Cycle Assess) is the first journal devoted entirely to Life Cycle Assessment and closely related methods. LCA has become a recognized instrument to assess the ecological burdens and impacts throughout the consecutive and interlinked stages of a product system, from raw material acquisition or generation from natural resources, through production and use to final disposal. The Int J Life Cycle Assess is a forum for scientists developing LCA and LCM (Life Cycle Management); LCA and LCM practitioners; managers concerned with environmental aspects of products; governmental environmental agencies responsible for product quality; scientific and industrial societies involved in LCA development, and ecological institutions and bodies.
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