The first rule of working in a chemical lab is to not lick the spoon, but yet a discovery worth a billion dollars was made when one chemist licked his finger to turn a page. This ground-breaking discovery is a story about the low-calorie sugar substitute called aspartame, or probably more well-known for its commercial names, NutraSweet and Equal.
WHAT IS ASPARTAME?
Have you ever wondered how food companies produce an alternative sugar-free selection of their products such as mini gums, desserts, and diet soda, while still being able to deliver a sweet taste just like the original taste? This is all thanks to aspartame, the artificial sweetener that is 200 times sweeter than sucrose.
Aspartame is an organic compound having the chemical formula C14H18N2O5. Unlike sugar which is made from two carbohydrates, glucose and fructose, aspartame is composed of two amino acids, aspartic acid, and phenylalanine. The two amino acids are naturally found in a variety of everyday food such as eggs, fish, and milk. When the body breaks down aspartame, these amino acids are separated and a minuscule amount of methanol is released. Methanol could also be found naturally in a wide range of food including vegetables and fruits. Both aspartame and sugar provide 4 calories per gram. However, since a very small amount of aspartame is needed to produce the same sweet taste as sugar, the number of calories it may deliver is negligible.
HOW WAS ASPARTAME DISCOVERED?
Aspartame was first discovered accidentally by an American chemist James Schlatter in 1965 who was working on an anti-gastric ulcer drug for a pharmaceutical company G.D. Searle and Co. which is now a subsidiary of Pfizer. When he was recrystallizing aspartame from ethanol, the mixture leaked onto the outside of the flask he was using, and some of the powder landed on his finger. He accidentally licked his finger which was contaminated by aspartame when trying to pick up some papers. He noted the oddly sweet taste and realized it was aspartame. Though he did not intentionally defy the laboratory rules by licking the chemical substance as it was done accidentally, this unexpectedly lead to the incredible discovery of the sugar substitute that changed the course of food history.
History is evidence that Accidents and Curiosity, both have led to remarkable discoveries and also disasters. Curiosity is the soul of R&D as someone once said, we just know the tip of the iceberg. So, one must keep learning and exploring.Dr. Darshit Patel, MD, Mumbai
IS ASPARTAME SAFE TO BE CONSUMED?
The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) described aspartame as “one of the most thoroughly tested and studied food additives the agency has ever approved” as numerous allegations against the safety of consuming aspartame have surfaced over the past few decades. Lots of anecdotal news claimed that aspartame could cause several diseases such as brain cancer, multiple sclerosis (MS), and methanol toxicity. However, these claims were not credible and lacked scientific evidence. Following an extensive review and analysis of research on its safety, both FDA and the European Food Safety Authority concurred that aspartame poses no danger to humans. As per the 2013 major evaluation of the safety of aspartame conducted by the European Food Safety Authority, it is concluded that aspartame does not pose a safety concern at the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. In this case, an adult would have to drink 14 cans of sugary drinks every day before reaching the ADI. However, it is also important to note that as aspartame contains phenylalanine, it is not advised for consumption by those with phenylketonuria (PKU), whose metabolic system has difficulty in metabolizing phenylalanine.
Aspartame is a great substitute for sugar as a healthier low-calorie sweetener. To get the sweetness of a teaspoon of sugar, only 1/200 of a teaspoon of aspartame is needed. For a single can of soda, only 90-200 milligrams of aspartame are needed, compared to 39,000 to 45,000 milligrams of sucrose needed for the same sweet taste. Hence it is a great substance to be implemented in a healthy diet plan since one of the biggest hurdles is actually to cut down sugar and calorie intake. Aspartame allows people to still indulge in sweet cravings whilst consuming fewer calories. This also helps with diabetes diet management since diabetics can still enjoy the sweet taste of aspartame without worrying too much about raising their blood sugar levels. According to The American Dental Association, aspartame does not promote the production of decay-causing acids which can harm the teeth. Therefore, it could decrease the risk of tooth decay as opposed to consuming sugar.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the next time you see food products labeled as diet, low-calorie, sugar-free, and zero-sugar, there is a high possibility that aspartame is used as a sugar substitute. Though the story of the aspartame discovery and its safety matters were disputable and faced a lot of backlash from some parties, there is no denying that this discovery is one of the most pivotal events in nutrition science and food history. Sweet taste is a delight for everyone that no one would be able to relinquish, so, who wouldn’t love to have a healthier low-calorie alternative to sugar? Thanks to the accidental event of James Schlatter, we are able to indulge sweet tastes in different manners. However, this is strictly not an invitation for you to start licking the chemical substances in the laboratory, considering not everyone will be as lucky as him in this accident!
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