Can I use an artificial sweetener?

An artificial sweetener is a low calorie substance used as sweetener to replace sugars.

Carbohydrates, including sugars, are our body's main source of energy. We eat sugars occurring in fruits (fructose) and dairy products (lactose) and added sugars (sucrose).

We may want to replace sugars by an artificial sweetener such as aspartame when we want to loose weight. Also, diabetics need to limit their consumption of sugars; they can replace them by an artificial sweetener.

Artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame (Canderel®, NutraSweet®...) can be used in hot drinks in place of sugar.

Aspartame  is widely used as a low calorie sweetener in many diet soft drinks, food preparations and as table sweetener. More 

Food safety organizations have checked the safety of this artificial sweetener and of many others. However, some allegations of side effects still fuel debates. More on the aspartame sweetener debate... 

Read the GreenFacts summary on aspartame and find out about the safety of Canderel.

1. What is aspartame? 
2. How much aspartame do people consume? 
3. What happens to aspartame once it is ingested? 
4. Can aspartame affect human health? 
5. Conclusion