1.2 What are the uses and properties of the aspertame sweetener?
Aspertame is marketed as table sweetener (for example,
Canderel®, NutraSweet®…). It
is also incorporated in a number of foodstuffs throughout the world,
including drinks, desserts and sweets (European code E951). It is
a white, odourless powder, approximately 200 times sweeter than sugar,
manufactured by combining phenylalanine and aspartic
acid. Its main impurity is diketopiperazine that
has no sweetening properties.
The aspertame sweetener is stable in the dry state
and in frozen products. However, when stored in liquids at more than
30°C, it progressively converts into diketopiperazine, which
is partially degraded into methanol,
aspartic acid and phenylalanine. These transformations result in
the loss of sweetness. Therefore, the aspertame sweetener can not
be used for cooking or sterilizing foods. Read the EC-SCF report about aspartame uses and properties...
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