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** What is Aspartame? **

Aspartame is a low-calorie sweetening ingredient that provides the sweet taste of sugar without the calories. Aspartame has been used in numerous foods and beverages for more than 20 years and is enjoyed by millions of Americans every day. The most notable name brand of aspartame is Nutra-sweet. Aspartame is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid  / phenylalanine   dipeptide. It was first synthesized in 1965. The safety of aspartame has been the subject of several political and medical controversies, Congressional hearings  and internet hoaxes since its initial approval for use in food products by the US Food and Drug Administration  (FDA) in 1974. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener and is approximately 200 times sweeter than sucrose , or table sugar. Due to this property, though aspartame upon metabolism produces 4 kilocalories of energy per gram, the quantity of aspartame needed to produce a sweet taste is so small that its caloric contribution is negligible. The taste of aspartame and other artificial sweeteners differ from that of table sugar in the times of onset and how long the sweetness lasts, though aspartame comes closest amongst artificial sweeteners to sugar's taste profile. The sweetness of aspartame lasts longer than sucrose, so it is often blended with other artificial sweeteners like acesulfame potassium to produce an overall taste more like sugar. Aspartame can be synthesized from its constituent amino acids, L - phenylalanine and L - aspartate.

** History of Aspartame ** · Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by a researcher, Mr. James Schlatter, at G.D. Searle & Company. · Schlatter was a scientist doing research with amino acids, working to develop a treatment for ulcers. In 1965, while creating a bioassay, an intermediate chemical was synthesized --> · Since that time aspartame has become one of the most highly valued and widely used sweeteners in the world, known for its clean taste and amazing sweetness (180-200 times sweeter than sucrose). Aspartame also quickly became a highly valued ingredient among people with diabetes because it literally changed their lives, allowing them to enjoy foods that are sweet and tasty without ingesting sugar.

** Where Can Aspartame be Found? **

Aspartame is used to sweeten products such as low-calorie tabletop sweeteners, carbonated soft drinks, powdered soft drinks, puddings, gelatins, frozen desserts, yogurt, hot cocoa mixes, teas, breath mints, chewing gum and other foods, as well as some vitamin and cold preparations.

** How products sweetened with Aspartame help in weight control? ** Aspartame has established itself as an important component in many low-calorie, sugar-free foods and beverages and is primarily responsible for the growth over the last two decades in the sugar-free market. The safety of aspartame has been affirmed by the U.S. FDA 26 times in the past 23 years. Currently, aspartame is consumed by over 200 million people around the world and is found in more than 6,000 products including carbonated soft drinks, powdered soft drinks, chewing gum, confections, gelatins, dessert mixes, puddings and fillings, frozen desserts, yogurt, tabletop sweeteners, and some pharmaceuticals such as vitamins and sugar-free cough drops. In the United States, all food ingredients, including aspartame, must be listed in the ingredient statement on the food label. Several tabletop sweeteners containing aspartame as the sweetening ingredient can be used in a wide variety of recipes. However, in some recipes requiring lengthy heating or baking, a loss of sweetness may occur; this is not a safety issue - simply the product may not be as sweet as desired. Therefore, it is best to use tabletop sweeteners with aspartame in specially designed recipes available from the manufacturers of these tabletop sweeteners. Aspartame tabletop sweeteners may also be added to some recipes at the end of heating to maintain sweetness.  · Cereals · Chewing Gum · Flavored Syrups for Coffee · Flavored Water Products · Frozen Ice · Frozen Ice Cream Novelties · Fruit Spreads · Gelatin, Sugar Free · Hard Candies · Ice cream Toppings · Ice Creams, No Sugar Added or Sugar Free · Iced Tea, Powder · Iced Tea, Ready to Drink · Instant Cocoa Mix · Jams & Jellies · Juice Blends · Juice Drinks · Maple Syrups · Meal Replacements · Mousse · No Sugar Added Pies · Non-Carbonated Diet Soft drinks · Nutritional Bars · Powdered Soft Drinks · Protein Nutritional Drinks · Pudding · Soft Candy Chews · Sugar Free Chocolate Syrup · Sugar Free Cookies · Sugar Free Ketchup · Table Top Sweeteners · Vegetable Drinks · Yogurt, Drinkable · Yogurt, Fat Free · Yogurt, Sugar Free
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