Systematic review of the relationship between artificial sweetener consumption and cancer in humans: analysis of 599,741 participants

Neuronal activity in the anterior paraventricular nucleus of thalamus positively correlated with sweetener consumption in mice

Although the brain can discriminate between various sweet substances, the underlying neural mechanisms of this complex behavior remain elusive. This study examines the role of the anterior paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (aPVT) in governing sweet preference in mice. We fed the mice six different diets with equal sweetness for six weeks: control diet (CD), high sucrose diet (HSD), high stevioside diet (HSSD), high xylitol diet (HXD), high glycyrrhizin diet (HGD), and high mogroside diet (HMD). The mice exhibited a marked preference specifically for the HSD and HSSD. Following consumption of these diets, c-Fos expression levels in the aPVT were significantly higher in these two groups compared to the others. Utilizing fiber photometry calcium imaging, we observed rapid activation of aPVT neurons in response to sucrose and stevioside intake, but not to xylitol or water. Our findings suggest that aPVT activity aligns with sweet preference in mice, and notably, stevioside is the sole plant-based sweetener that elicits an aPVT response comparable to that of sucrose.

Global development and future trends of artificial sweetener research based on bibliometrics

Artificial sweeteners have sparked a heated debate worldwide due to their ambiguous impacts on public and environmental health and food safety and quality. Many studies on artificial sweeteners have been conducted; however, none scientometric studies exist in the field. This study aimed to elaborate on the knowledge creation and development of the field of artificial sweeteners and predict the frontiers of knowledge based on bibliometrics. In particular, this study combined VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Bibliometrix to visualize the mapping of knowledge production, covered 2389 relevant scientific publications (1945-2022), and systematically analyzed articles and reviews (n = 2101). Scientific publications on artificial sweeteners have been growing at an annual rate of 6.28% and globally attracting 7979 contributors. Susan J. Brown with total publications (TP) of 17, average citation per article (AC) of 36.59, and Hirsch (h)-index of 12 and Robert F. Margolskee (TP = 12; AC = 2046; h-index = 11) were the most influential scholars. This field was clustered into four groups: eco-environment and toxicology, physicochemical mechanisms, public health and risks, and nutrition metabolism. The publications about environmental issues, in particular, "surface water," were most intensive during the last five years (2018-2022). Artificial sweeteners are gaining importance in the monitoring and assessment of environmental and public health. Results of the dual-map overlay showed that the future research frontiers tilt toward molecular biology, immunology, veterinary and animal sciences, and medicine. Findings of this study are conducive to identifying knowledge gaps and future research directions for scholars.

Evaluating the Association Between Artificial Sweetener Intake and Indicators of Stress and Anxiety

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between non-nutritive sweetener (NNS) consumption and stress and anxiety, among a sample of college students. Two-hundred and twenty-seven students from a large mid-western university participated in this cross-sectional study. Students completed an online survey that evaluated NNS using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Stress and anxiety were evaluated using previously validated instruments. Most students reported very low/low/average concern for stress (63.9%), and had low/moderate anxiety (82.3%). Participants experiencing high and very high levels of stress had significantly higher NNS consumption compared to those with a very low and low risk, and concern for stress (p < .046; d = 0.28). There was no difference however for NNS intake and anxiety. Reduction of artificial sweetener intake may be associated with stress levels among college students. However, more research is needed to examine any causal relationship between artificial sweetener intake and stress.

Association of Artificially Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Urinary Tract Cancers in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study

Background

Insufficient data exist to conclude whether consumption of artificially sweetened beverages is associated with a higher risk of urinary tract cancers.

Objective

We sought to investigate whether urinary tract cancer incidence differed among women who consumed various amounts of artificially sweetened beverages.

Design setting and participants

This was a secondary analysis of data from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study, a multicenter longitudinal prospective study of the health of 93 676 postmenopausal women with a mean follow-up time of 13.5 yr. Women were identified at 40 clinical centers across the USA and enrolled from 1993 to 1998. Women between the ages of 50 and 79 yr were enrolled. We included women who answered questions about artificially sweetened beverage consumption and reported no prior urinary tract cancer diagnoses. The frequency of artificially sweetened beverage consumption was categorized as follows: rare artificially sweetened beverage consumption (never to fewer than one serving per week), frequent consumption (one to six servings per week), and daily consumption (more than one servings per day).

Outcome measurements and statistical analysis

The incidence of urinary tract cancer reported during subsequent visits until February 28, 2020 was recorded. Demographic characteristics were compared between those with varying levels of artificially sweetened beverage consumption. Descriptive statistics were used to report the rates of urinary tract cancer diagnosis, and Cox regression models were constructed to determine hazard ratios and adjust for potential confounders.

Results and limitations

We identified 80 388 participants who met the inclusion criteria. Most participants (64%) were infrequent consumers of artificially sweetened beverages, with 13% (n = 10 494) consuming more than one servings per day. The incidence of urinary tract cancers was low, with only 804 cases identified. Cox regression models showed that frequent artificially sweetened beverage consumption was associated with a higher risk of kidney cancer (adjusted hazard ratio 1.34, 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.75). There was no significant association between artificially sweetened beverage intake and bladder cancer.

Conclusions

Frequent consumption of artificially sweetened beverages may be associated with a higher risk of kidney cancer among postmenopausal women.

Patient summary

A secondary analysis of the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study showed that higher consumption of artificially sweetened beverages was associated with a higher risk of kidney cancer.

Endocrine and Metabolic Impact of Oral Ingestion of a Carob-Pod-Derived Natural-Syrup-Containing D-Pinitol: Potential Use as a Novel Sweetener in Diabetes

The widespread use of added sugars or non-nutritive sweeteners in processed foods is a challenge for addressing the therapeutics of obesity and diabetes. Both types of sweeteners generate health problems, and both are being blamed for multiple complications associated with these prevalent diseases. As an example, fructose is proven to contribute to obesity and liver steatosis, while non-nutritive sweeteners generate gut dysbiosis that complicates the metabolic control exerted by the liver. The present work explores an alternative approach for sweetening through the use of a simple carob-pod-derived syrup. This sweetener consists of a balanced mixture of fructose (47%) and glucose (45%), as sweetening sugars, and a functional natural ingredient (D-Pinitol) at a concentration (3%) capable of producing active metabolic effects. The administration of this syrup to healthy volunteers (50 g of total carbohydrates) resulted in less persistent glucose excursions, a lower insulin response to the hyperglycemia produced by its ingestion, and an enhanced glucagon/insulin ratio, compared to that observed after the ingestion of 50 g of glucose. Daily administration of the syrup to Wistar rats for 10 days lowered fat depots in the liver, reduced liver glycogen, promoted fat oxidation, and was devoid of toxic effects. In addition, this repeated administration of the syrup improved glucose handling after a glucose (2 g/kg) load. Overall, this alternative functional sweetener retains the natural palatability of a glucose/fructose syrup while displaying beneficial metabolic effects that might serve to protect against the progression towards complicated obesity, especially the development of liver steatosis.

Current Advances and Future Aspects of Sweetener Synergy: Properties, Evaluation Methods and Molecular Mechanisms

Sweetener synergy is the phenomenon in which certain combinations of sweeteners work more effectively than the theoretical sum of the effects of each components. It provides benefits in reducing sweetener dosages and improving their sweetness. Many mixtures of sweeteners with synergistic effects have been reported up to now. Both artificial high-intensity sweeteners and natural sweeteners are popularly used in sweetener mixtures for synergism, although the former seem to display more potential to exhibit synergy than the latter. Furthermore, several evaluation methods to investigate sweetener synergy have been applied, which could lead to discrepancies in results. Moreover, structurally dissimilar sweeteners could cooperatively bind at the different sites in the sweet taste receptor T1R2/T1R3 to activate the receptor, and their hydration characters/packing characteristics in solvents could affect their interaction with the receptor, providing the preliminary explanations for the molecular basis of sweetener synergy. In this article, we firstly present a systematic review, analysis and comment on the properties, evaluation methods and molecular mechanisms of sweetener synergy. Secondly, challenges of sweetener synergy in both theory and practice and possible strategies to overcome these limitations are comprehensively discussed. Finally, future perspectives for this important performance in human sweet taste perception are proposed.

Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Cancer Risk: A Narrative Review

Cancer continues to be a major public health challenge worldwide, not only for being one of the leading causes of death but also because the number of incident cases is projected to grow in the next decades. Meanwhile, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) consumption has risen since the past century and constitutes a considerable fraction of added sugars in daily diet. Several studies have analyzed the relationship between SSB intake and health and found substantial evidence for effects on obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. However, there is little knowledge about the relationship of SSB with cancer risk. It may be speculated that there is an indirect relationship between SSB and cancer through obesity and metabolic syndrome, but obesity-independent associations through hormonal imbalances or chronic inflammation could also exist. In this review, we describe the epidemiological evidence of the association of SSB and the risk of cancer in adults. Although the epidemiological evidence linking SSB consumption and cancer risk is still limited, prospective studies suggest that high SSB intake may increase the risk of obesity-related cancers, breast and prostate cancer.

Toxicological and Nutraceutical Screening Assays of Some Artificial Sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners are food additives worldwide used instead of fructose or glucose in many diet beverages. Furthermore, diet beverages intake has been increasing every year. Thus, some food agencies should regulate it based on toxicological studies. Debates and controversial results are demonstrated, and authority can revise its decision on the basis of new data reporting toxicological effects since cyclamate has been forbidden in some countries. Therefore, the aim of this study was to report new data about the toxicity of acesulfame-k, aspartame, and cyclamate, which are useful for authority agencies, determining the toxic potential and nutraceutical capabilities of these compounds. The toxicity, antitoxicity, genotoxicity, antigenotoxicity, and life expectancy assays were carried out in Drosophila as an in vivo model. In addition, in vitro HL-60 line cell was used to evaluate the chemopreventive activity determining the cytotoxic effect and the capability of producing DNA damage due to internucleosomal fragmentation or DNA strand breaks. Furthermore, the methylated status of these cancer cells treated with the tested compounds was assayed as a cancer therapy. Our results demonstrated that all tested compounds were neither toxic nor genotoxic, whereas these compounds resulted in antigenotoxic and cytotoxic substances, except for cyclamate. Aspartame showed antitoxic effects in Drosophila. All tested compounds decreased the quality of life of this in vivo organism model. Acesulfame-k, aspartame, and cyclamate induced DNA damage in the HL-60 cell line in the comet assay, and acesulfame-k generally increased the methylation status. In conclusion, all tested artificial sweeteners were safe compounds at assayed concentrations since toxicity and genotoxicity were not significantly induced in flies. Moreover, Aspartame and Cyclamate showed protective activity against a genotoxin in Drosophila Regarding nutraceutical potential, acesulfame-k and aspartame could be demonstrated to be chemopreventive due to the cytotoxicity activity shown by these compounds. According to DNA fragmentation and comet assays, a necrotic way could be the main mechanism of death cells induced by acesulfame-k and aspartame. Finally, Acesulfame-K hypermethylated repetitive elements, which are hypomethylated in cancer cells resulting in a benefit to humans.

Evidence that human oral glucose detection involves a sweet taste pathway and a glucose transporter pathway

The taste stimulus glucose comprises approximately half of the commercial sugar sweeteners used today, whether in the form of the di-saccharide sucrose (glucose-fructose) or half of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Therefore, oral glucose has been presumed to contribute to the sweet taste of foods when combined with fructose. In light of recent rodent data on the role of oral metabolic glucose signaling, we examined psychopharmacologically whether oral glucose detection may also involve an additional pathway in humans to the traditional sweet taste transduction via the class 1 taste receptors T1R2/T1R3. In a series of experiments, we first compared oral glucose detection thresholds to sucralose thresholds without and with addition of the T1R receptor inhibitor Na-lactisole. Next, we compared oral detection thresholds of glucose to sucralose and to the non-metabolizable glucose analog, α-methyl-D-glucopyranoside (MDG) without and with the addition of the glucose co-transport component sodium (NaCl). Finally, we compared oral detection thresholds for glucose, MDG, fructose, and sucralose without and with the sodium-glucose co-transporter (SGLT) inhibitor phlorizin. In each experiment, psychopharmacological data were consistent with glucose engaging an additional signaling pathway to the sweet taste receptor T1R2/T1R3 pathway. Na-lactisole addition impaired detection of the non-caloric sweetener sucralose much more than it did glucose, consistent with glucose using an additional signaling pathway. The addition of NaCl had a beneficial impact on the detection of glucose and its analog MDG and impaired sucralose detection, consistent with glucose utilizing a sodium-glucose co-transporter. The addition of the SGLT inhibitor phlorizin impaired detection of glucose and MDG more than it did sucralose, and had no effect on fructose, further evidence consistent with glucose utilizing a sodium-glucose co-transporter. Together, these results support the idea that oral detection of glucose engages two signaling pathways: one that is comprised of the T1R2/T1R3 sweet taste receptor and the other that utilizes an SGLT glucose transporter.

Low-calorie sweeteners and human health: a rapid review of systematic reviews

INTRODUCTION

Low-calorie sweeteners are increasingly prevalent in the food supply and their consumption has increased in recent decades. Although low-calorie sweeteners approved for use are considered safe from a toxicological perspective, their short- and long-term impacts on chronic disease risk remain uncertain. The aim of this review was to summarize the evidence from systematic reviews on low-calorie sweetener use and chronic conditions and risk factors in children and adults.

METHODS

MEDLINE and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched to identify systematic reviews of randomized and nonrandomized studies that considered low-calorie sweeteners in relation to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, anthropometric measures, hypertension, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, and dental caries. Data were extracted from 9 reviews deemed of moderate or high quality on the basis of AMSTAR-2.

RESULTS

Narrative synthesis suggested inconsistent evidence on low-calorie sweetener use in relation to chronic conditions and associated risk factors, with nonrandomized studies suggesting positive associations and randomized studies suggesting negative or no associations.

CONCLUSION

Continued research on the long-term health impacts of low-calorie sweeteners across all life stages is warranted.

The relationship between the use of artificial sweeteners and cancer: A meta-analysis of case-control studies

Although there are reports that artificial sweeteners (AS) are safe, the relationship between artificial sweeteners and cancer remains controversial. The purpose of the study is to evaluate whether the consumption of artificial sweeteners is associated with the risk of cancers. We conducted a comprehensive search of multiple databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library. We found all the literature that studied the relationship between artificial sweeteners and cancer. Ten case-control studies were included in the meta-analysis. Our findings indicated that the consumption of artificial sweeteners was not associated with an increase in cancer when all types of cancers are analyzed comprehensively (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.75-1.11). Interestingly, the use of artificial sweeteners is inversely related to urinary system cancer risk when analyzing women individually (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.60-0.97). Our meta-analysis found that these is no correlation between artificial sweeteners and occurrence of cancer except urinary system cancer in women. Considering some limitations found in this study, additional data from large clinical trials are needed.

Fullerenol as a water-soluble MALDI-MS matrix for rapid analysis of small molecules and efficient quantification of saccharin sodium in foods

Due to the strong background interferences in the low-mass region and poor reproducibility of conventional organic matrices, it is of great importance to develop a novel matrix for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze small molecules. In this work, water-soluble fullerenol C₆₀(OH)_24-26 was selected as a MALDI matrix for the analysis of low-molecular-weight compounds in consideration of optical absorption property, water solubility and stability. Compared with the traditional matrices, fullerenol demonstrated lower background interference and stronger peak intensity. In addition, the hydrophilic fullerenol could avoid the heterogeneous crystallization in sample preparation, increase the reproducibility and sensitivity of MALDI-MS, and ameliorate quantitative analysis of small molecules. With saccharin as model analyte, quantitative analysis was carried out using fullerenol as matrix. The results demonstrated satisfying reproducibility and good tolerance to salt. The limit-of-detection of the quantitative analysis was as low as 4 pmol, and the linear range is 1-100 μg mL^-1 with R² greater than 0.99. The analytical results also showed excellent precision and accuracy, low matrix effect and good recovery rate. Fullerenol as a potential matrix was further validated in the quantification of saccharin sodium in different real food samples, such as nuts and drinks. This work not only confirms the potential of fullerenol for the quantitative analysis in food field, but also provides a new technique for rapid analysis of small molecules.

Adherence to a Western dietary pattern and risk of bladder cancer: A pooled analysis of 13 cohort studies of the Bladder Cancer Epidemiology and Nutritional Determinants international study

Little is known about the association of diet with risk of bladder cancer. This might be due to the fact that the majority of studies have focused on single food items, rather than dietary patterns, which may better capture any influence of diet on bladder cancer risk. We aimed to investigate the association between a measure of Western dietary pattern and bladder cancer risk. Associations between adherence to a Western dietary pattern and risk of developing bladder cancer were assessed by pooling data from 13 prospective cohort studies in the "BLadder cancer Epidemiology and Nutritional Determinants" (BLEND) study and applying Cox regression analysis. Dietary data from 580 768 study participants, including 3401 incident cases, and 577 367 noncases were analyzed. A direct and significant association was observed between higher adherence to a Western dietary pattern and risk of bladder cancer (hazard ratio (HR) comparing highest with lowest tertile scores: 1.54, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.37, 1.72; P-trend = .001). This association was observed for men (HR comparing highest with lowest tertile scores: 1.72; 95% CI: 1.51, 1.96; P-trend = .001), but not women (P-het = .001). Results were consistent with HR above 1.00 after stratification on cancer subtypes (nonmuscle-invasive and muscle-invasive bladder cancer). We found evidence that adherence to a Western dietary pattern is associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer for men but not women.

The drivers, trends and dietary impacts of non-nutritive sweeteners in the food supply: a narrative review

Poor diets, including excess added sugar consumption, contribute to the global burden of disease. Subsequently, many nutrition policies have been implemented to reduce added sugar intake and improve population health, including taxes, education, labelling and environmental interventions. A potential consequence of these policy actions is the substitution of added sugars with non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) in a variety of foods and beverages. NNS are used to reduce the energy and sugar content of foods and beverages while maintaining their palatability. Evidence of the toxicological risks of NNS is inconsistent, though concerns have been raised over the potential substitution effects of ultra-processed foods containing NNS for whole foods. This review aimed to provide an overview of current NNS food supply and consumption patterns, assess added sugar-reduction policies and their impact on NNS, and determine the impact of NNS on food choice, energy intake and diet quality. NNS are widely available in a variety of products, though most commonly in carbonated beverages, dairy products, confectionery, table-top sweeteners and fruit drinks. However, the longitudinal trends of different product categories, and differences between geographies and economy-income levels, require further study. Few studies have examined NNS consumption trends globally, though an increase in NNS consumption in beverages has been observed in some regions. Research examining how the increased availability of low-sugar, NNS-containing products affects global dietary patterns is limited, particularly in terms of their potential substitution effects.

Dietary Carbohydrate Constituents Related to Gut Dysbiosis and Health

Recent studies report that microbiota in the human intestine play an important role in host health and that both long- and short-term diets influence gut microbiota. These findings have fueled interest in the potential of food to promote health by shaping the intestinal microbiota. Despite the fact that large populations in Asia consume high quantities of carbohydrates, such diets have been ignored in comparison to the attention received by Western diets containing high quantities of fat and animal protein. We gathered data that suggest an association between imbalanced high-carbohydrate intake and gut microbiota and host health. In this review, we identify not only the effect of total carbohydrates on the intestinal microbiota specifically and the health of their hosts in general, but also how specific types of carbohydrates influence both factors.

Effects of Stevia Rebaudiana on Glucose Homeostasis, Blood Pressure and Inflammation: A Critical Review of Past and Current Research Evidence

The prevalence of obesity and its related comorbidities continues to rise in the United States and worldwide. Insulin resistance, increased inflammation and oxidative stress are the major pathogenic mechanisms involved in obesity-associated co-morbid conditions. Major efforts to curb the rising tide of obesity, including lifestyle modifications, anti-obesity medications and surgical interventions have shown minimal success. Therefore, introducing new methods to combat obesity, diabetes and associated disorders are desperately needed. Stevia rebaudiana, a natural, non-caloric sweetener has generated significant interest in the scientific community due to its effects on glucose homeostasis, blood pressure and inflammation, all known consequences of obesity. In this review, we assess the effects of Stevia on these parameters in humans as well as in animal models, highlighting its potential role as an effective intervention for the major cardiovascular risk factors associated with obesity.

Non-nutritional sweeteners effects on endothelial vascular function

AIM

Hyperglycemia status induces endothelial dysfunction, although the underlying pathogenic mechanisms are not fully understood. There are several studies connecting sugar/sweetened beverages to the cardiovascular disease. Currently, many sweeteners have been extensively introduced into lifestyle to normalize blood glucose levels without altering the sweet taste. However, there is growing concern for their impact on metabolic health.

METHODS

Human endothelial cells were treated with Glucose, Fructose, Aspartame, Rebaudioside A, Stevioside, or Steviol. Morphological characteristics, in vitro angiogenesis and array gene expression were analyzed.

RESULTS

High-glucose and fructose concentrations significantly decreased cell features such as angiogenic capability. Interestingly, non-caloric sweeteners did not significantly modified all cell characteristics and they did not compromised cell angiogenic ability. Array gene expression analysis revealed that the chemokine fractalkine (CX3CL1) and the enzyme transferase (HPRT1) were always significantly upregulated and downregulated respectively, after glucose and fructose treatments (P > .05), whereas they were non-differentially expressed with all the other sweeteners. Interestingly, both genes are considered as cardiovascular disease risk biomarkers. Specifically, upregulation of CX3CL1/CX3CR1 occurs in the human placenta and serum levels of the ligand are associated with markers of insulin resistance in GDM.

CONCLUSIONS

Differently from glucose and fructose, steviol glycosides do not damage endothelial cells. Prospective preclinical studies and clinical trials are warranted to confirm the long-term safety of such compounds.

Low-Calorie Sweetened Beverages and Cardiometabolic Health: A Science Advisory From the American Heart Association

In the United States, 32% of beverages consumed by adults and 19% of beverages consumed by children in 2007 to 2010 contained low-calorie sweeteners (LCSs). Among all foods and beverages containing LCSs, beverages represent the largest proportion of LCS consumption worldwide. The term LCS includes the 6 high-intensity sweeteners currently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and 2 additional high-intensity sweeteners for which the US Food and Drug Administration has issued no objection letters. Because of a lack of data on specific LCSs, this advisory does not distinguish among these LCSs. Furthermore, the advisory does not address foods sweetened with LCSs. This advisory reviews evidence from observational studies and clinical trials assessing the cardiometabolic outcomes of LCS beverages. It summarizes the positions of government agencies and other health organizations on LCS beverages and identifies research needs on the effects of LCS beverages on energy balance and cardiometabolic health. The use of LCS beverages may be an effective strategy to help control energy intake and promote weight loss. Nonetheless, there is a dearth of evidence on the potential adverse effects of LCS beverages relative to potential benefits. On the basis of the available evidence, the writing group concluded that, at this time, it is prudent to advise against prolonged consumption of LCS beverages by children. (Although water is the optimal beverage choice, children with diabetes mellitus who consume a balanced diet and closely monitor their blood glucose may be able to prevent excessive glucose excursions by substituting LCS beverages for sugar-sweetened beverages [SSBs] when needed.) For adults who are habitually high consumers of SSBs, the writing group concluded that LCS beverages may be a useful replacement strategy to reduce intake of SSBs. This approach may be particularly helpful for persons who are habituated to a sweet-tasting beverage and for whom water, at least initially, is an undesirable option. Encouragingly, self-reported consumption of both SSBs and LCS beverages has been declining in the United States, suggesting that it is feasible to reduce SSB intake without necessarily substituting LCS beverages for SSBs. Thus, the use of other alternatives to SSBs, with a focus on water (plain, carbonated, and unsweetened flavored), should be encouraged.

e-Sweet: A Machine-Learning Based Platform for the Prediction of Sweetener and Its Relative Sweetness

Artificial sweeteners (AS) can elicit the strong sweet sensation with the low or zero calorie, and are widely used to replace the nutritive sugar in the food and beverage industry. However, the safety issue of current AS is still controversial. Thus, it is imperative to develop more safe and potent AS. Due to the costly and laborious experimental-screening of AS, in-silico sweetener/sweetness prediction could provide a good avenue to identify the potential sweetener candidates before experiment. In this work, we curate the largest dataset of 530 sweeteners and 850 non-sweeteners, and collect the second largest dataset of 352 sweeteners with the relative sweetness (RS) from the literature. In light of these experimental datasets, we adopt five machine-learning methods and conformational-independent molecular fingerprints to derive the classification and regression models for the prediction of sweetener and its RS, respectively via the consensus strategy. Our best classification model achieves the 95% confidence intervals for the accuracy (0.91 ± 0.01), precision (0.90 ± 0.01), specificity (0.94 ± 0.01), sensitivity (0.86 ± 0.01), F1-score (0.88 ± 0.01), and NER (Non-error Rate: 0.90 ± 0.01) on the test set, which outperforms the model (NER = 0.85) of Rojas et al. in terms of NER, and our best regression model gives the 95% confidence intervals for the R²(test set) and ΔR² [referring to |R²(test set)- R²(cross-validation)|] of 0.77 ± 0.01 and 0.03 ± 0.01, respectively, which is also better than the other works based on the conformation-independent 2D descriptors (e.g., 2D Dragon) according to R²(test set) and ΔR². Our models are obtained by averaging over nineteen data-splitting schemes, and fully comply with the guidelines of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which are not completely followed by the previous relevant works that are all on the basis of only one random data-splitting scheme for the cross-validation set and test set. Finally, we develop a user-friendly platform “e-Sweet” for the automatic prediction of sweetener and its corresponding RS. To our best knowledge, it is a first and free platform that can enable the experimental food scientists to exploit the current machine-learning methods to boost the discovery of more AS with the low or zero calorie content.

Measuring Artificial Sweeteners Toxicity Using a Bioluminescent Bacterial Panel

Artificial sweeteners have become increasingly controversial due to their questionable influence on consumers' health. They are introduced in most foods and many consume this added ingredient without their knowledge. Currently, there is still no consensus regarding the health consequences of artificial sweeteners intake as they have not been fully investigated. Consumption of artificial sweeteners has been linked with adverse effects such as cancer, weight gain, metabolic disorders, type-2 diabetes and alteration of gut microbiota activity. Moreover, artificial sweeteners have been identified as emerging environmental pollutants, and can be found in receiving waters, i.e., surface waters, groundwater aquifers and drinking waters. In this study, the relative toxicity of six FDA-approved artificial sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose, saccharine, neotame, advantame and acesulfame potassium-k (ace-k)) and that of ten sport supplements containing these artificial sweeteners, were tested using genetically modified bioluminescent bacteria from E. coli. The bioluminescent bacteria, which luminesce when they detect toxicants, act as a sensing model representative of the complex microbial system. Both induced luminescent signals and bacterial growth were measured. Toxic effects were found when the bacteria were exposed to certain concentrations of the artificial sweeteners. In the bioluminescence activity assay, two toxicity response patterns were observed, namely, the induction and inhibition of the bioluminescent signal. An inhibition response pattern may be observed in the response of sucralose in all the tested strains: TV1061 (MLIC = 1 mg/mL), DPD2544 (MLIC = 50 mg/mL) and DPD2794 (MLIC = 100 mg/mL). It is also observed in neotame in the DPD2544 (MLIC = 2 mg/mL) strain. On the other hand, the induction response pattern may be observed in its response in saccharin in TV1061 (MLIndC = 5 mg/mL) and DPD2794 (MLIndC = 5 mg/mL) strains, aspartame in DPD2794 (MLIndC = 4 mg/mL) strain, and ace-k in DPD2794 (MLIndC = 10 mg/mL) strain. The results of this study may help in understanding the relative toxicity of artificial sweeteners on E. coli, a sensing model representative of the gut bacteria. Furthermore, the tested bioluminescent bacterial panel can potentially be used for detecting artificial sweeteners in the environment, using a specific mode-of-action pattern.