Evaluation of the sweetener content in diet/light/zero foods and drinks by HPLC-DAD

Artificial sweeteners are widely used in foods and beverages to replace sugars. It is essential to monitor the content of these compounds, as amounts over the legal limit may create harmful effects to the health of consumers. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to determine the amount of acesulfame-k, saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, and neotame in eleven food and beverage products classified as diet, light and zero, using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). We also aimed to verify whether their amount in the products was in agreement with the effective legislation and the values indicated on the product label. Soft drinks, nectars, instant juices, puddings and cappuccinos, drinking chocolate powder, jams, jellies, barbecue and tomato sauce and tabletop sweeteners were among the products evaluated. The amount of artificial sweetener in the analysed samples ranged from 0.3 to 25.8 mg.100 mL⁻¹ for acesulfame-k; 1.3 to 15.8 mg.100 mL⁻¹ for saccharin; 36.7 to 79.4 mg.100 mL⁻¹ for cyclamate; 2.7 to 55.9 mg.100 mL⁻¹ for aspartame. All tomato and barbecue sauce samples contained concentrations above the legal limit. Furthermore, several samples contained concentrations above the concentrations stated on the labels, which indicates the need for more efficient control and inspection in the food industry.