WHAT ARE LOW- AND NO-CALORIE SWEETENERS?
Low- and no-calorie sweeteners are food ingredients used in foods and drinks to provide a sweet taste with no or hardly any calories. This makes them a useful tool in helping consumers to manage their total calorie intake as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Low- and no-calorie sweeteners have a much higher intensity of sweetness per gram than sugar, which is the reason why they can be used in very small quantities to achieve the same level of sweetness of sugar.
For more information on low- and no-calorie sweeteners, the International Sweeteners Association (ISA) is an authoritative source providing science-based information on these ingredients to support public understanding of their safety and benefits. The ISA publishes scientific analyses of the latest research on sweeteners and provides user-friendly factsheets.
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ARE LOW- AND NO-CALORIE SWEETENERS SAFE?
Low- and no-calorie sweeteners are amongst the most thoroughly researched ingredients in the world.
All of the low- and no-calorie sweeteners used in foods and drinks in Europe today, including aspartame and acesulfame-K, have been subjected to rigorous safety assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
For example:
- EFSA has repeatedly reconfirmed the safety of aspartame. Its latest scientific opinion, released in 2013, concluded that aspartame is safe for the general population, including for infants, children and pregnant women. In 2018, the U.S. FDA also re-affirmed the safety of aspartame and, in 2023, it reconfirmed that aspartame is safe. In July 2023, WHO/FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), the leading global expert on the safety of food additives, reaffirmed the safety of aspartame, re-confirming the ‘Acceptable Daily Intake’ (ADI) of 0-40 mg per kg body weight per day (see JECFA summary findings). This ADI remains the same as the one established by EFSA.
- EFSA reconfirmed the safety of acesulfame K in 2025. In its scientific review, EFSA concluded that acesulfame-K is safe and considerably raised the acceptable daily intake (ADI) from 9 mg/kg body weight per day to 15 mg/kg per day.
- In 2026, EFSA reaffirmed that sucralose is safe for use at the established Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of 15 mg/kg body weight per day. EFSA’s re-evaluation is based on one of the most comprehensive reviews in the past 20 years, covering data on short- and long-tern effects, exposure assessments, and manufacturing processes – and aligns with numerous previous evaluations by other international and national food safety authorities, including the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA).
In September 2026, EFSA re-affirmed the safety of aspartame-acesulfame salt and its two components – aspartame and acesulfame-K (“Ace-K”), based on the full body of available scientific evidence, including new evidence on aspartame that has become available since the 2013 EFSA scientific opinion.
EFSA has also reconfirmed the established Acceptable Daily Intakes (ADIs) for aspartame (40 mg/kg body weight per day) and acesulfame (15 mg/kg body weight per day), concluding that current exposure estimates across all age groups remain below these ADIs.
When it comes to aspartame, EFSA clearly stated: “Available evidence does not support a causal link between current dietary exposure to E 951 and adverse health effects such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, liver toxicity, kidney toxicity, haematotoxicity, neurotoxicity, developmental effects, general toxicity or toxicity in any organ or tissue, or disturbances in glucose regulation.”
Only sweeteners assessed as safe by EFSA and then authorised by the EU institutions can be used in food and drink products in the EU. In the approval process, EFSA sets an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for each low- and no-calorie sweetener. The ADI is the amount of low- and no-calorie sweetener that can be safely consumed on a daily basis throughout a person’s lifetime without risk to health. Based on the ADI, the European institutions set an EU regulatory maximum permitted level for each sweetener in each specific relevant food and drink category.
In addition to the European process, safety assessments of sweeteners are also carried out by international food safety authorities such as the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) of the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization. Many national regulatory and food safety agencies across the world also conduct safety assessments.
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WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF LOW- AND NO-CALORIE SWEETENERS?
Low- and no-calorie sweeteners can be used to reduce or replace the sugars used in foods and beverages. In soft drinks which contain sugar, it is usually the sugar that provides most of the calories, which is why its replacement with low- and no-calorie sweeteners can assist with weight management.
Low- and no-calorie sweeteners can also help with the management of diabetes as they do not affect blood sugar levels.
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WHY ARE LOW- AND NO-CALORIE SWEETENERS USED IN SOFT DRINKS?
Low- and no-calorie sweeteners provide a sweet taste, yet with no or very few calories. This allows soft drinks producers to innovate to develop new low- and no-calorie products with different sweetness levels in order to help consumers to manage their calorie intake from soft drinks.
Low- and no-calorie sweeteners are therefore an integral part of the soft drinks sector’s sugar reduction actions to offer more choice with less sugar, in support of public health recommendations to reduce excessive sugar consumption. In addition to using low- and no-calorie sweeteners, the soft drinks industry is also investing in further promoting low- and no-calorie beverages to actively encourage consumer choice towards these products. Low- and no-calorie drinks currently represent over 40% of soft drinks’ sales in some European countries.
HOW CAN I CHECK IF FOODS AND DRINKS CONTAIN LOW- AND NO-CALORIE SWEETENERS?
In European Union food labelling legislation, the presence of a low- and no-calorie sweetener in foods and drinks must be indicated on the label as ‘’with sweetener(s)’’ and also in the list of ingredients (“sweetener” plus full name or E-number of the sweeteners used in the product).
The E-number indicates that it has been approved as safe for use in foods and beverages in Europe.
WHAT ARE THE LOW- AND NO-CALORIE SWEETENERS USED IN FOODS AND DRINKS?
There are several types of low- and no-calorie sweeteners used in food and drink products like soft drinks, desserts, dairy products, sweets, chewing gum, and low-calorie and weight control products.
The four low- and no-calorie sweeteners most frequently used in soft drinks are acesulfame K, aspartame, steviol glycosides (stevia), and sucralose.
KEY FACTS ABOUT SWEET TASTE
Sweet taste in beverages mainly comes from sugars or from low- and no-calorie sweeteners.
A liking for sweet taste is innate, is mainly genetically determined, and generally decreases as we age.
Despite popular belief, there is no evidence to support that the sweetness of the diet needs to change to improve diet quality or health or is related to body weight. Diet quality does not appear to relate to the sweetness of the diet, but rather to an individual’s choice of total foods and beverages and the amounts of other nutrients they provide to the diet.
The suggestion that consuming sweet foods and beverages encourages a greater liking for sweet taste in general is not supported by scientific research. The conclusion of a 2024 review of more recent research by Mela, D. and Risso, D. is consistent with the existing science, providing no empirical support for a causal link between consuming sweet tasting foods and drinks and a general increase in the liking or desire for sweetness.
Science also indicates that the provision of sweetness (via low- and no-calorie sweeteners) can help in reducing sugars and calorie intake, which suggests that provision of sweetness does not hinder sugars or calorie reduction efforts (read this study and this WHO review).
