Why is there a fine for adding acesulfame potassium, a common beverage, into orange juice?

Recently, another piece of news related to food and drink has become a hot topic: Acesulfame Pot was detected in the imported orange juice sold in a supermarket, which did not meet the requirement of "not allowed to be used" in the national food safety standards, and the supermarket was fined by the market supervision department.

Picture丨Weibo@021 video

Wait, Acesulfame K, it seems like a very familiar name, it appears in the ingredient list of many beverages...

Does being fined for containing acesulfame potassium in orange juice mean that acesulfame potassium is unsafe? Then, can we still drink orange juice and beverages containing acesulfame potassium?

What is Acesulfame Potassium?

Acesulfame potassium is a sweetener and a food additive that can bring sweetness.

Acesulfame potassium was discovered by the German company Hoechst in 1967. In 1983, the UK approved its use in the food industry, and in 1988, the US approved its use in food. After that, acesulfame potassium began to be used all over the world.

Compared with added sugars such as sucrose and fructose syrup, sweeteners have the following advantages:

First, the sweetness is high. The sweetness of most sweeteners is dozens to thousands times that of sucrose.

Secondly, it is low in energy. Sweeteners usually provide no energy or only provide less energy, allowing people to significantly reduce energy intake while enjoying the sweet taste.

In addition, the sweetener has good water solubility and processing stability, and is easy to use in food processing.

The sweetness of acesulfame potassium is about 200-250 times that of sucrose. Because of its better taste, it is widely used in the food processing industry. For example, it can be found in candies, baked goods, frozen snacks, beverages, mixed desserts and table sweeteners.

Moreover, acesulfame potassium can not only be used as a sweetener alone, but also can be used in combination with other sweeteners to increase sweetness and improve product flavor. In the current global sweetener market, acesulfame potassium accounts for about 10% and is a mainstream sweetener product.

Why is there acesulfame potassium in orange juice?

Why is there acesulfame potassium in this 100% orange juice? I guess the reason is to "adjust the acidity".

I believe that anyone who has squeezed orange juice will have this feeling: Why is freshly squeezed orange juice so sour? It is different from the orange drinks sold in supermarkets. Indeed, the taste of pure natural orange juice is very sour, and many people may not like or accept it.

Freshly squeezed orange juice still tastes a bit sour...丨pixabay

In order to adjust the taste, the common practice in the food industry is to add sugar. Adding sugar to beverages can adjust the acidity and make it taste better.

However, nowadays, everyone thinks that eating too much sugar is not good, and the health policies of various countries are moving towards "reducing sugar" and "controlling sugar", so many businesses will use sweeteners in beverages. This can not only reduce calories, but also achieve the same effect with a very small amount. As one of the mainstream sweetener products, acesulfame potassium is naturally easy to be selected, so we often see it in some fruit juice beverage ingredients.

The problem is that according to current food safety standards, sugar or sweeteners can be added to fruit juice drinks to improve the taste, but this is not allowed in "100% pure juice". If used, it is a violation.

However, regulations are regulations and reality is reality.

In fact, the abuse of food additives in Thailand is not uncommon in recent years. I hope that domestic businesses will pay more attention to the inspection and ensure food safety when importing food.

Acesulfame potassium added to juice,

Will it cause health hazards?

Of course, for most of us, the biggest concern is whether orange juice is safe and whether it will cause harm to the body.

Everyone can relax as much as possible. Although this orange juice is illegal, it does not necessarily mean that it will cause harm to our bodies. The reason is the same old saying: whether it causes harm depends on the dosage.

The sweetness of acesulfame potassium is 200-250 times that of sucrose, and only a very small amount is needed to achieve the same sweetness effect as sucrose. Moreover, because it is very sweet, you don’t have to worry about merchants adding too much, because if you add too much, the taste will not be sweet, but bitter, and consumers will naturally not like such products.

According to the assessment of the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of acesulfame potassium is 0-15 mg per kilogram of body weight. The test result of acesulfame potassium in the imported orange juice that was fined this time showed 0.021 g per kilogram of juice, which means that an adult weighing 60 kilograms would have to drink 42.8 kg of orange juice every day to exceed this intake range, which is roughly equivalent to drinking 43 one-liter boxes of orange juice every day... I'm afraid few people can consume such a huge amount.

One liter of orange juice, about this much↑丨pixabay

Therefore, in terms of dosage, you don’t have to worry about any health hazards.

Finally, my advice is: if you have bought this brand of juice recently, don’t throw it away out of fear. Just drink it. After all, you spent your own money and it would be a pity to throw it away. If you have never bought it, just treat it as a melon and read the news for fun. If you want to buy some orange juice to calm your nerves, just choose a brand you like and an acceptable price, and be happy.

References

[1] Consensus on Sweeteners 2018

[2]http://www.chinasugar.org.cn/i,109,1755,0.html

[3]https://apps.who.int/food-additives-contaminants-jecfa-database/Home/Chemical/926

Author: Ruan Guangfeng

Editor: Maiya Yang