The Sugar Association, which describes itself as “the scientific voice of the U.S. sugar industry,” petitioned the FDA on Wednesday to require clearer labeling of foods that contain alternative low- and no-calorie sweeteners. The FDA has six months to respond to the petition.
During a digital news conference, the association’s chief executive, Courtney Gaine, said some foodmakers have shifted to “non-nutritive” sweeteners as a consequence of the government’s update of the Nutrition Facts label, which appears on every package of food. Companies are now required to list “added sugars,” which become part of a food during processing or preparation. Health experts advise consumers to limit calories from added sugars.
“FDA needs to clear this up,” said Gaine, referring to the difficulty of identifying sweeteners from a list of ingredients. Some alternative sweeteners are sucralose, sorbitol, and acesulfame potassium. The industry’s petition asks the FDA to require that the word “sweetener” appear after the name of such ingredients. If the package says “low,” “no,” or “reduced” sugar but uses a low- or no-calorie sweetener, the maker should be required to say “sweetened by” and add the name of the sweetener to the front of the package.