ABSTRACT
Sweeteners are de™ned as food additives that are used or intended to be used either to impart a sweet taste to food or as a tabletop sweetener. Tabletop sweeteners are products that consist of, or include, any permitted sweeteners and are intended for sale to the ultimate consumer, normally for use as an alternative to sugar. Foods with sweetening properties, such as sugar and honey, are not additives and are excluded from the scope of of™cial regulations. Sweeteners are classi™ed as either high intensity or bulk. High-intensity sweeteners possess a sweet taste, but are noncaloric, provide essentially no bulk to food, have greater sweetness than sugar, and are therefore used at very low levels. On the other hand, bulk sweeteners are generally carbohydrates, providing energy (calories) and bulk to food. These have similar sweetness to sugar and are used at comparable levels.
