Journal of Food Science and Technology

, Volume 52, Issue 11, pp 6900–6913 | Cite as

Evaluation of the sweetener content in diet/light/zero foods and drinks by HPLC-DAD

  • Daniela de Queiroz Pane
  • Cíntia Botelho Dias
  • Adriana Dillenburg Meinhart
  • Cristiano Augusto Ballus
  • Helena Teixeira Godoy
Original Article
First Online:
Revised:
Accepted:

Abstract

Artificial sweeteners are widely used in foods and beverages to replace sugars. It is essential to monitor the content of these compounds, as amounts over the legal limit may create harmful effects to the health of consumers. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to determine the amount of acesulfame-k, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, and neotame in eleven food and beverage products classified as diet, light and zero, using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). We also aimed to verify whether their amount in the products was in agreement with the effective legislation and the values indicated on the product label. Soft drinks, nectars, instant juices, puddings and cappuccinos, drinking chocolate powder, jams, jellies, barbecue and tomato sauce and tabletop sweeteners were among the products evaluated. The amount of artificial sweetener in the analysed samples ranged from 0.3 to 25.8 mg.100 mL−1 for acesulfame-k; 1.3 to 15.8 mg.100 mL−1 for saccharin; 36.7 to 79.4 mg.100 mL−1 for cyclamate; 2.7 to 55.9 mg.100 mL−1 for aspartame. All tomato and barbecue sauce samples contained concentrations above the legal limit. Furthermore, several samples contained concentrations above the concentrations stated on the labels, which indicates the need for more efficient control and inspection in the food industry.

Keywords

Artificial sweeteners Diet Light HPLC Legislation 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

Authors are grateful to Sweetmix (Brazil) for providing, free of charge, the neotame standard. This work was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Capes and Coordenação Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq grant 131101/2009-9 and 142007/2007-2. C. A. Ballus also would like to thank FAPESP for the post-doctoral scholarship (grant n. 13/25242-7).

Authors’ contributions

D.Q.P. contributed to study design; conducting the study, collecting and analysing samples and data; and writing the manuscript. C.B.D. contributed to study design, sample preparation, data analysis and the writing of the manuscript. A.D.M. contributed to data analysis and the writing of the manuscript. C.A.B... contributed to data analysis and the writing of the manuscript. H.T.G. participated in the study design, coordinated the study and reviewed the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

References

  1. Ahrné L, Fitzpatrick JJ (2005) Food powder handling and processing: industry problems, knowledge barriers and research opportunities. Chem Eng Process 44(2):209–214CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Brazil. Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária/ Ministério da Saúde (2008) Resolução RDC n° 18, de 24 de março de 2008. Regulamento Técnico que autoriza o uso de aditivos edulcorantes em alimentos, com seus respectivos limites máximos. Diário Oficial da União, BrasíliaGoogle Scholar
  3. Brazil. Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária/Ministério da Saúde (1997) Portaria n° 540, de 27 de outubro de 1997. Regulamento Técnico: Aditivos Alimentares. Diário Oficial da União, BrasíliaGoogle Scholar
  4. Chen Q, Wang J (2001) Simultaneous determination of artificial sweeteners, preservatives, caffeine, theobromine and theophylline in food and pharmaceutical preparations by ion chromatography. J Chromatogr A 937(1/2):57–64CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Cuq B, Rondet E, Abecassis J (2010) Food powders engineering, between knowhow and science: constraints, stakes and opportunities. Powder Technol 208(2):244–251CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Dias CB, Meinhart AD, Pane DQ, Ballus CA, Godoy HT (2014) Multivariate optimisation and validation of a method for the separation of five artificial sweeteners by UPLC-DAD in nine food matrices. Food Anal Methods. doi: 10.1007/s12161-014-0056-8, Accepted ManuscriptGoogle Scholar
  7. Farhadi A, Keshavarzian A, Holmes BEW, Fields J, Zhang L, Banan A (2003) Gas chromatographic method for detection of urinary sucralose: application to the assessment of intestinal permeability. J Chromatogr B 784(1):145–154CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Food Powders, Documento Estratégico para Pesquisa em Pós Alimentícios (2003) Available at: http://www.foodpowders.net/strategic.htm, accessed on October 2011
  9. Huang Z, Ma J, Chen B, Zhang Y, Yao S (2006) Determination of cyclamate in foods by high performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Anal Chim Acta 555(2):233–237CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Kemp SE (2006) Low-calorie sweeteners. In: Spillane WJ (ed) Optimizing sweet taste in food. Woodhead Publishing Limited, England, pp 175–250CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Kritsunankula O, Jakmuneeb J (2011) Simultaneous determination of some food additives in soft drinks and other liquid foods by flow injection on-line dialysis coupled to high performance liquid chromatography. Talanta 84(5):1342–1349CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Kroger M, Meister K, Kava R (2006) Low-calorie sweeteners and other sugar substitutes: a review of the safety issues. Compr Rev Food Sci F 5(2):35–47CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Leth T, Jensen U, Fagta S, Andersen R (2008) Estimated intake of intense sweeteners from non-alcoholic beverages in Denmark, 2005. Food Addit Contam Part A 25(6):662–668CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Lipinski G R, Hangler L Y (2001) Acesulfame K. In: NABORS, L.O. Alternative Sweeteners, 3ed, revised and expanded, Switzerland, Marcel Dekker:13–30Google Scholar
  15. Loos R, Gawlik BM, Boettcher K, Locoro G, Contini S, Bidoglio G (2009) Sucralose screening in European surface waters using a solid-phase extraction-liquid chromatography–triple quadrupole mass spectrometry method. J Chromatogr A 1216(7):1126–1131CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Moraes P C B T (2008) O impacto do uso de edulcorantes em bebidas de café solúvel e café torrado/moído como substitutos da sacarose. 107p, Tese de doutorado em Alimentos e Nutrição, Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas.Google Scholar
  17. Nakaie Y, Yogi T, Kakehi K, Inoue D, Hirose H, Hashimoto S, Tonogai Y (1999) Simultaneous and simple determination of saccharin and acesulfame K in foods by GC–NPD. J Food Hyg Soc Jpn 40(3):223–229CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Pietra AM, Cavrini V, Bonazzi D, Benfenati L (1990) Analysis of aspartame and saccharin in pharmaceutical and dietary formulations. Chromatographia 30(3/4):215–219CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Renwick AG (2006) The intake of intense sweeteners – an update review. Food Addit Contam 23(4):327–338CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Snyder LR, Kirkland JJ, Glajch JL (1997) Pratical HPLC method development. 2 ed., Wiley-Interscience, Hoboken, NJ, USA p. 765Google Scholar
  21. Thompson M, Ellison SLR, Wood R (2002) Harmonized guidelines for single laboratory validation of methods of analysis. IUPAC 74:835–855Google Scholar
  22. Torloni MR, Nakamura MU, Megale A, Sanchez VHS, Mano C, Fusaro AS, Mattar R (2007) O uso de adoçantes na gravidez: uma análise dos produtos disponíveis no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro, Rev Bras Ginecol Obstet 29(5):267–275Google Scholar
  23. Wang Y, Xu HT, Xie YY, Tian YX, Shen YD, Young G, Wang H, Lei HT, Sun YM (2011) Development of polyclonal antibody-based indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for sodium saccharin residue in food samples. Food Chem 126(1):815–820CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Wasik A, McCourt J, Buchgraber M (2007) Simultaneous determination of nine intense sweeteners in foodstuffs by high performance liquid chromatography and evaporative light scattering detection - Development and single-laboratory validation. J Chromatogr A 1157(1/2):187–196CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Yang DJ, Chen B (2009) Simultaneous determination of nonnutritive sweeteners in foods by HPLC/ESI-MS. J Agric Food Chem 57(8):3022–3027CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Zhu Y, Guo Y, Ye M, James FS (2005) Separation and simultaneous determination of four artificial sweeteners in food and beverages by ion chromatography. J Chromatogr A 1085(1):143–146CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Zygler A, Wasik A, Namiesnik J (2009) Analytical methodologies for determination of artificial sweeteners in foodstuffs. Trend Anal Chem 28(9):1082–1102CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • Daniela de Queiroz Pane
    • 1
  • Cíntia Botelho Dias
    • 2
  • Adriana Dillenburg Meinhart
    • 1
  • Cristiano Augusto Ballus
    • 1
  • Helena Teixeira Godoy
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Food Science, Faculty of Food EngineeringUniversity of Campinas (UNICAMP)CampinasBrazil
  2. 2.Nutraceuticals Research Group, School of Biomedical Science and PharmacyUniversity of NewcastleCallaghanAustralia

Personalised recommendations