Low Calorie Sweetener Comparison Chart

Do any International Health Organizations or National Governments have recommendations for consumers when it comes to the daily consumption of sugar substitutes?

Yes. The US Food & Drug Adminstration (FDA) and several other regulatory agencies around the world have established Acceptable Daily Intakes (ADI) or Ingestas Diarias Admisibles (IDA – name used by regulatory entities and norms like the Argentina Food Code) for low-calorie sweeteners.

The US FDA ADIs for low-calorie sweeteners appear on the comparison chart below.

  Acesulfame Potassium Aspartame Saccharin Sucralose Cyclamate Rebiana
Approximate Sweetening Power Compared to Sugar 200 times sweeter 160-200 times sweeter 300-500 times sweeter 600 times sweeter 30 times sweeter 200 times sweeter
Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) 15 mg/kg (FDA) 50 mg/kg (FDA) 15 mg/kg (FDA) 5 mg/kg (FDA)   7 mg/kg (FSA, SCF) 12 mg/kg/day (JECFA)
ADI equivalent 1
Assuming average weight of 150 lbs		 25 12-oz cans of diet soda sweetened solely with ace-K 15 12-oz cans of diet soda sweetened solely with aspartame 8.5 packets of tabletop sweetener 5 12-oz cans of diet soda sweetened solely with sucralose 5.5 12-oz cans of soda Approximately 30 packets of Truvia™natural sweetener or
More than 24
8-oz  servings of Sprite Green, Odwalla® Mojito Mambo™ or Odwalla® Pomegranate Strawberry  

1 Source:IFIC

The Joint Commission of Experts on Food Additives (JECFA) of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organization of Food and Agriculture (FAO), and the EFSA (the European Food Safety Agency) have also established ADIs for many low-calorie sweeteners, including cyclamate. The JECFA recommendations have been adopted by many countries in their regulatory frameworks, including Argentina2, Chile, Brazil, and Mexico. The EFSA values serve as references for countries in the European Union, including Spain.

(2) The Argentina food code establishes an ADI for saccharin of 2.5 mg/kg of body weight.

JECFA Low-Calorie Sweetener ADIs


EFSA Low-Calorie Sweetener ADIs

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