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Webinar: Non-Nutritive Sweeteners and Obesity

John D. Fernstrom, PhD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

This seminar is part of a seminar series supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Nutrition Obesity Research Center and Department of Nutrition Sciences. John Fernstrom, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, reviews non-nutritive sweeteners in relation to obesity. In his presentation, Dr. Fernstrom overviews what sweeteners are and how much we consume, if sweeteners are safe and the definition of safe, how sweeteners “work” to generate sweetness, what else they do, and any impact on obesity. Some key take-aways from this presentation include:

  • Daily intake of sweeteners in the United States, even among the highest consumers, is much lower than the level that may be safely consumed daily for a lifetime without health or safety concerns. This level, called the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI), is based on scientific studies and was set when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed for the use of the sweeteners.
  • FDA requires extensive studies and testing before approving a sweetener. In fact, due to the robust evaluation that goes into each sweetener, FDA may not be responsive when a single study reports a concern.

 

Dr. Fernstrom reviews some of the complex science behind the claims that sweeteners cause obesity. While reviewing some of the research evaluating sweeteners and obesity, Dr. Fernstrom states   “I think the data are pretty convincing on balance that this effect is not there.”

  • “Compounds like non-nutritive sweeteners, and certainly the main ones that we use, actually are safe from the standpoint of government regulation and they’ve been studied extensively.”- John Fernstrom
  • “In terms of nonnutritive sweeteners and obesity, my current view is they’re not causing the epidemic. End of story.”- John Fernstrom

 

To view the presentation, click here.

faq2Do you have questions about low-calorie sweeteners? Want to learn more about maintaining a healthy lifestyle? You asked and we listened. Our resident Registered Dietitians answered the most popular questions about low-calorie sweeteners.

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