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. 2021 May 29;13(6):1861.
doi: 10.3390/nu13061861.

The Use of Non-Nutritive and Low-Calorie Sweeteners in 19,915 Local and Imported Pre-Packaged Foods in Hong Kong

Billy Yin Sing O  1 , Daisy H Coyle  2 , Elizabeth K Dunford  2   3 , Jason H Y Wu  2 , Jimmy Chun Yu Louie  1   2
Affiliations

The Use of Non-Nutritive and Low-Calorie Sweeteners in 19,915 Local and Imported Pre-Packaged Foods in Hong Kong

Billy Yin Sing O et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

This study aims to examine the use of non-nutritive (NNSs) and low-calorie sweeteners (LCSs) in pre-packaged foods in Hong Kong and the differences in the number of NNSs/LCSs used between products from different regions. In a cross-sectional audit, the types of NNSs/LCSs used in 19,915 pre-packaged foods in Hong Kong were examined by searching the ingredients list of the included products for keywords related to 20 common NNSs/LCSs and their respective E-numbers. Prevalence of use of NNSs and LCSs, the co-presence of NNSs/LCSs and free sugar ingredients (FSI), and the number of NNSs/LCSs used in the included foods were computed. Pearson's χ2 test was used to compare the total number of NNSs and/or LCSs used in food items from different regions. Sucralose (E955) was the most commonly used NNS (1.9%), followed by acesulfame K (E950, 1.6%). Sorbitol was the most commonly used LCS (2.9%). Overall, the use of LCSs was less common compared with NNSs (3.7% vs. 4.5%). The use of different types of NNSs varied substantially between food types. Notably, 20.2% of potato crisps and 15.2% of other crisps or extruded snacks contained at least one NNS and/or LCS. Co-presence of FSIs and NNSs/LCSs were most common in confectionery (15.7%) and snack foods (15.5%). Asian prepackaged foods were more likely to contain NNSs/LCSs (10.1%) compared with those from other regions. To conclude, NNSs/LCSs were used in a wide range of non-diet pre-packaged products which could be a public health concern due to their higher consumption frequencies than "diet" products.

Keywords: Hong Kong; intense sweeteners; low-calorie sweeteners; non-nutritive sweeteners; pre-packaged foods; sugar substitutes.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence of use of different non-nutritive sweeteners (NNSs) by major food category. Data for neohesperidin DC (E959) and neotame (E961) were not presented as only 1 product each was found containing E959 and E961. No product in the dataset contained E956 (alitame) or E957 (thaumatin).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence of use of different low-calorie sweeteners (LCSs) by food category.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Minor food categories with >5% prevalence of use of non-nutritive (NNSs) and/or low-calorie sweeteners (LCSs).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Number of non-nutritive (NNSs) and low-calorie sweeteners (LCSs) used in products by major food category. 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 refers to the number of NNSs/LCSs found in the food products as stated in the figure caption.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Number of non-nutritive (NNSs) and/or low-calorie sweeteners (LCSs) in food products from different regions by food category. n from left to right: 934, 634, 138, 66, 2, 1779, 632, 278, 117, 20, 862, 651, 131, 60, 6, 783, 265, 88, 32, 3, 751, 553, 136, 165, 6, 171, 221, 32, 34, 0, 53, 7, 5, 9, 0, 500, 182, 28, 24, 6, 1157, 866, 420, 37, 45, 406, 262, 68, 20, 7, 1494, 585, 208, 117, 19, 1350, 638, 293, 55, 11, 642, 218, 126, 13, 3, 178, 170, 78, 62, 2, 11,061, 5884, 2029, 811, 130. 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 refers to the number of NNSs/LCSs found in the food products as stated in the figure caption.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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