Act Naturally...Sweetened Trivia Quiz

Answer: Maltodextrin

While glucose, fructose, and galactose, all monosaccharides (simple sugars, as they're known), are all naturally occurring, they're also relatively small in chemical construction. Soluble in water, the body breaks them down (albeit in a more difficult way than for other edible chemicals) as carbohydrates. The more sugars you eat, the longer it takes a body with a low metabolism to break them down. This, of course, breaks open a door for scientists and food additive technicians to start building newer, lower calorie non-sugars for you to start eating. Low calories means lower weight, right? RIGHT?

Well...no.

Maltodextrin is a deceptive sugar. As a polysaccharide (not simple sugar), it's created via hydrolysis in a lab. It breaks down fast, but it's not naturally occurring. And guess what-- it's used in tons of foods from soda to candy to baby formula. If something is 'processed', you can expect it.

Answer: Aspartame

Used to cut calories in high-calorie items while maintaining the sweetness expected of it, aspartame has been used for decades to make 'diet' versions of your favourite soft drinks. While many complain that it has a distinctive taste separate from what it's meant to replace, it's nevertheless one of the most popular sugar alternatives used commercially.

What most don't know is that aspartame was originally created (by accident) while trying to create a drug to combat ulcers. Its relative overconsumption leading into the twenty-first century has also led many to fear health issues surrounding its use, leading to 'daily recommended doses' being established.

Answer: Splenda

Sucralose and Splenda are interchangeable. Sweeter than most commercially-available sugar replacements, this chemical is not actually broken down by the body as easily as the others, so if you're looking for a way to lose weight, Splenda's probably not the answer. While you can often find Splenda as a packeted alternative to coffee sugar at a diner, you can also find it, labelled as sucralose, in more and more drinks, mainly because, according to studies, due to successful marketing of Splenda, buyers are more likely to purchase a drink created with that over aspartame.

This said, studies have shown that Splenda poses no risk to the body despite higher resistances to being broken down. Most of it isn't absorbed by the body and, in fact, its consumption doesn't break down tooth enamel and lead to cavities like the other alternatives.

The trademarked name 'Splenda' is owned by Johnson & Johnson. They also make Tylenol, Benadryl, and Band-Aids.

Answer: 20,000x

Yeah...you probably don't want to mess with this stuff anyways.

Advantame has the privilege of being the last option on your sugar replacement list while being one of the most interesting things you can consider. While it's not really palatable for consumption on its own, it has been used in baking and cooking since it was introduced and approved in Japan (it was approved in the U.S. in 2014). Oh, and by baking and cooking, I would expect you to find this in frozen treats.

As for safety, you need to keep in mind that this sweetener is highly synthetic. For perspective, to reach your daily maximum dose of advantame, you would need to open up nearly five thousand sugar packets of the stuff to get enough. It's extremely sweet and extremely interesting, but still anomalous.

Answer: Saccharin

Saccharin, interestingly named after the sugary word 'saccharine', is an extremely common additive, especially if you're looking to sweeten coffee or tea, sold in many countries as Sweet'n Low, which is found in pink packets on coffee shop tables. Like Splenda, strong marketing has brought this sweetener to near-ubiquity, and while many countries banned saccharin in the 1970s, the brand persisted, selling the product under a similar compound and remaining a mainstay in the sweetener world.

This said, saccharin is not sugar, and many use it as a substitute simply because it isn't; it's actually been considered safe for diabetics and, because it contains no calories, it's often regarded as a go-to for those looking to lose weight, but still enjoy a cup of joe. Keep in mind though, if you have a six pack of saccharin-sweetened soda in a day, you've already had nearly 150% of your daily recommended amount for the day.

Answer: It mixes well with other sweeteners

Notable for being one of the least sweet of the sweeteners, sodium cyclamate has a funnier origin story than most as it was created when a scientist put his cigarette down on a lab table and brought it back to his mouth. Yeah. No risk whatsoever with that one.

Banned in the United States (and other countries), sodium cyclamate may pose risks in large quantities. That said, for those watching their sweetener intake, it does appear in (surprise!) Sweet'N Low packages outside the U.S., partly because, when mixed with other sweeteners, it tends to remove the bitterness from both compounds. You can use it to bake, but would probably be harder pressed to find some.

Answer: Neotame

NutraSweet created this product, along with aspartame, after being sold off to Monsanto in the 1980s. In the 2000s, the sweetener finally took hold, received its patent (which expired in 2015) and started finding uses almost immediately. Less sweet than the super-saccharine advantame, neotame is still, likely, too sweet for you to use in a home kitchen or a cup of coffee, but it is seen in a number of processed foods, especially syrups and gums. Considered a more stable compound than its near-relative aspartame, it's actually considered the safer alternative in many countries based on released studies. That said, there's still a stigma around it.

Why don't you see neotame in more things? Well, it's probably in there anyways. Since significantly less of it is used to sweeten processed foods, it's either insignificant in the grand scheme of an ingredients list or, rather ironically, it's listed under 'Natural Flavors'. Not at all concerning.

Answer: A second-generation sweetener

You're probably thinking...'aftertaste'? Yeah. Most of the other sweeteners have it. You may notice, while drinking a can of your favourite diet soda, that there's just something that lingers when you should be tasting something sweet. While aspartame may have that taste, alitame was created in response to that sweetener (hence why it's called a second-generation sweetener, like neotame). Pfizer was the one to bring this one into the light in the 1980s, but they never pursued FDA approval in the United States because it cost too much to make. Nonetheless, it was about two thousand times sweeter than regular sugar.

Answer: Licorice

It just rolls off the tongue, right? Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (or NHDC) was created in the 1970s and while it was originally made to mix with citrus (like in orange juice), it never ended up keeping that job for long, partly because the sweetener's aftertaste kind of ruined the whole point-- it tasted like licorice.

Despite this, it was much stronger a sweetener than sugar, and when mixed with other sweeteners, it only helped to enhance their properties. You'd be more likely to see it mixed with aspartame in a drink than used in place of sugar for a baking recipe. Due to its intense cooling properties, it's also used in mouthwash and toothpaste.

Answer: Stevia

Stevia, made from the leaves of the candyleaf plant, is one of the only sweeteners out there that isn't made in a lab. While stevia was banned in the United States for decades in the belief that it was carcinogenic (while most other sweeteners proceeded to the market with minimal testing), it has been used in other countries around the world for quite a while, notably in Japan, as a sugar substitute.

While considered bitter by many using it for personal reasons, stevia is one hundred and fifty times sweeter than basic sugar.

While awareness of stevia emerged in the 2010s, its widespread use never really materialized in North America, except as a supplement in low-carb diets.