Evaluation of the quality and safety of sugar substitutes

Abstract

High sugar consumption leads to such socially significant diseases as type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular diseases. The problem of replacing sugar in food products and finished culinary products is always acute for food manufacturers. In the future the demand for intense sweeteners and sugar substitutes is expected to increase, as the demand for dietary preventive, sports and diabetic nutrition products in the Russian Federation is steadily growing. The wide selection of sugar substitutes available on the market is due to their significant economic advantages, high sweetness factor, ease of use and the absence of negative effects on the human body, since they do not contain glucose and do not lead to sharp fluctuations in blood sugar. Their use allows us to create innovative products, take into account the needs of different consumer groups and follow modern requirements for a healthy lifestyle. An important indicator in the production of sugar substitutes is their quality characteristics. The purpose of the research is commodity assessment of the quality of four most popular liquid sugar substitutes for compliance with labeling in accordance with the technical regulations TR CU 021/2012, microbiological indicators, examination of samples for the presence of sweeteners, and preservative content. It has been established that all the studied samples violate the requirements of the current legislation, starting with typos in the declaration of conformity (Slastya-super), ending with unreliable information on the label («Mastershape»TM, «Nosugar», «Sladkiy pshik»TM), excess concentration of preservatives above the permitted limits («Sladkiy pshik»TM) and microbiological purity («Mastershape» and «Nosugar»).