WHO Advises against Zero-Nutrition Non-Sugar Sweeteners

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a new guideline on non-sugar sweeteners (NSS), which recommends against the use of NSS to control body weight or reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

The recommendation is based on the findings of a systematic review of the available evidence which suggests that use of NSS does not confer any long-term benefit in reducing body fat in adults or children. Results of the review also suggest that there may be potential undesirable effects from long-term use of NSS, such as an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality in adults.

“Replacing free sugars with Non-Sugar Sweeteners does not help with weight control in the long term. People need to consider other ways to reduce free sugars intake, such as consuming food with naturally occurring sugars, like fruit, or unsweetened food and beverages,” says Francesco Branca, WHO Director for Nutrition and Food Safety. “NSS are not essential dietary factors and have no nutritional value. People should reduce the sweetness of the diet altogether, starting early in life, to improve their health.”

Except for people with pre-existing diabetes, the recommendation applies to everyone and includes all synthetic and naturally occurring or modified non-nutritive sweeteners that are not classified as sugars and are found in manufactured foods and beverages or sold separately for consumers to add to foods and beverages. Acesulfame K, aspartame, advantame, cyclamates, neotame, saccharin, sucralose, stevia and stevia derivatives are examples of common NSS.

The guideline does not apply to NSS-containing personal care and hygiene items such as toothpaste, skin cream, and pharmaceuticals, or to low-calorie sugars and sugar alcohols (polyols), which are sugars or sugar derivatives that contain calories and are thus not considered NSS.

Because the evidence-based association between NSS and disease outcomes may be confounded by baseline characteristics of study participants and complicated patterns of NSS usage, the recommendation has been rated as conditional, in accordance with WHO guidelines-development processes. This indicates that policy decisions based on this proposal may necessitate meaningful debate in specific country circumstances, such as the degree of consumption in different age groups.

The WHO guideline on NSS is part of a suite of existing and upcoming healthy diet guidelines aimed at establishing lifelong healthy eating habits, improving dietary quality, and lowering the risk of NCDs worldwide.

Source Link