The desire to eat sweet things does not need to be suppressed, just managed, according to health and nutrition experts meeting at the International Sweeteners Association's conference in Brussels today. At the event, leading scientists in the field concluded that low calorie sweeteners provide an effective solution to fulfilling our natural desire for sweet tastes, without allowing us to over-consume calories and gain weight.
Speaking at the conference, Dutch obesity expert Dr Tommy Visscher reviewed the findings of research into the relationship between energy balance and body weight. The findings reveal how a minor decrease in body weight (as little as 2 or 3 percent) can result in significant overall health benefits, including reducing the risk of diabetes, cancer and other obesity-related illnesses. Dr Visscher concluded that when used as a substitute for sugar in foods and drinks, low calorie sweeteners can play a significant role in facilitating this level of weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight.
The International Sweeteners Association's conference brought together eminent experts in the areas of nutrition, obesity, food safety and communications to discuss the role and benefits of low calorie sweeteners in our diet and to investigate some of the issues that surround them.
"Our desire for sweetness hasn't changed in hundreds of years, but what has altered is that we're eating more and doing less exercise - all of which is contributing to rising obesity levels. Low calorie sweeteners can help provide a solution because they allow you to enjoy that sweet treat without contributing significantly to the overall daily calorie intake," said Hans Heezen, Chairman of the Association.
Despite a significant body of peer-reviewed science and international approval, some people continue to query the consumption levels of low calorie sweeteners. Addressing this point head-on Dr Joris Van Loco, Director of the Food, Medicines, and Consumer Safety Group (Scientific Institute of Public Health, Belgium), shared his recent analysis of the amount of aspartame consumed by people in Belgium, demonstrating that consumption levels across the population are well below the ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake), including in children and diabetics.
Journalist Trevor Butterworth, who regularly contributes to the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal, also joined the debate, arguing that the public image of low calorie sweeteners has been the victim of bad science: "The weight of considered scientific evidence, the result of careful, independent, expert scrutiny, again and again shows that there is no evidence of a risk to health. To argue otherwise, to turn problematic and discredited studies into certain, inviolable pronouncements, to intimate grand and global conspiracies, is to scare the public into abandoning an invaluable weapon in the fight against obesity."
Host of the conference, television presenter and food adventurer Stefan Gates, who has just been shortlisted for three Guild of Health Writers Awards for his work on E-numbers, said: "There are lots of anti-E hoaxes and disinformation which, even when disproved, provoke fear. This is not a good thing ...we all need to understand nutrition and food science a little better, which is why I am taking part. Our desire for sweet taste is an essential and basic human characteristic - cutting out sweet foods and drinks is incredibly hard for most people so they're just not going to do it. Low calorie sweeteners can be useful when you want to reduce your calorie intake - and may help combat getting fat - which can only be good!"
By 2050, two-thirds of adults and one-third of adolescents could face obesity in the US