High-intensity sweeteners (HIS) are substances different from sugars that are used to impart a sweet taste to foods with no or low calories associated. Although they are considered a useful tool for individuals in a sugar-restricted diet, the use of HIS must follow specific regulations and, therefore, it is important to continuously assess their levels in foods that may contain these ingredients. Considering that there are limited information in Brazil on the concentrations of HIS in sweets, the aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of acesulfame potassium, sucralose, aspartame, neotame, saccharin, sodium cyclamate, stevioside, rebaudioside A, and advantame in jellies, puddings, jams, cocoa products, chewing gum and candies, with partial or total sugar reduction. For that, a single analytical method that encompasses sample dilution, filtration and analysis by LC-MS/MS was established, validated, and applied in 110 commercial samples collected in the local market. Coefficients of variation (CV%) for precision were lower than 16.6% and accuracy was between 72.2% and 109.9%. The presence of at least one and at most five HIS was observed in the analyzed samples. For acesulfame potassium, the concentrations ranged from 1.5 to 299.2 mg/100 g, for saccharin from 1.0 to 25.7 mg/100 g, sodium cyclamate from 1.5 to 105.6 mg/100 g, sucralose from 4.2 to 106.1 mg/100 g, aspartame from 2.2 to 649.0 mg/100 g, stevioside from 2.0 to 7.7 mg/100 g and rebaudioside A from 2.2 to 33.3 mg/100 g. Neotame and advantame were not found in the evaluated products. Most of the samples complied with the maximum limits currently established for HIS in Brazil, with some samples of confections exceeding these values. Monitoring the content of HIS is important not only to verify compliance with current legislation, but also to allow exposure calculations for risk assessment purposes.
Nicoluci et al. (Thu,) studied this question.