Sweeteners (Non-Sugar), Decoded.
"No added sugar" doesn't always mean "not sweet." UK products use a wide range of non-sugar sweeteners — high-intensity artificial sweeteners, plant-derived sweeteners, and sugar alcohols (polyols). Each has a regulatory profile, an EFSA acceptable daily intake, and specific products it tends to appear in. Decoded by type. Free. Open. No paywall.
All sweeteners listed below are approved for use in UK food (retained EU additive law). Each high-intensity sweetener has an EFSA Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI). Polyols are not assigned ADIs but UK law requires a "may have a laxative effect" warning on products containing more than 10% added polyols. This reference is the companion to Hidden Names for Sugar.
Methodology · Sources · Caveats
Why this matters. "No added sugar" claims under UK retained EU Regulation 1924/2006 mean no mono- or disaccharide sugars added — but products carrying that claim often contain non-sugar sweeteners that are several hundred to several thousand times sweeter than sucrose by weight. The mouth registers sweetness; the nutrition declaration shows zero sugar. This reference is the bridge.
How sweetness multiples work. A product sweetened with sucralose at "600× sucrose" needs less than 1g of sucralose to deliver the same sweetness as 600g of sugar. The label declares the sweetener by name and E-number; weight is irrelevant to the perceived sweetness.
The Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI). EFSA assigns an ADI to each high-intensity sweetener based on lifetime daily intake studies. ADI is expressed as mg per kg body weight per day. A 70 kg adult on aspartame at the EFSA ADI of 40 mg/kg could consume 2,800 mg/day — equivalent to roughly 14 cans of an aspartame-sweetened diet drink. ADI is a ceiling, not a target.
Polyols and the laxative warning. Sugar alcohols (xylitol, sorbitol, maltitol, etc.) are not absorbed completely in the small intestine. UK law (FIR Annex III) requires a warning — "Excessive consumption may produce laxative effects" — on products with more than 10% added polyols. The threshold for individual GI tolerance varies; sensitive individuals react below 10g.
Sources. UK Food Standards Agency; EFSA Scientific Opinions on individual sweeteners; Commission Regulation (EC) 1333/2008 on food additives (retained UK law); WHO 2023 advisory on non-sugar sweeteners; Food Information Regulations 2014.
Verdicts. Worth flagging — carries a regulatory note (warning label required, recently re-evaluated, novel approval). Worth knowing — context-specific information about where it appears or how it differs from similar sweeteners. Standard sweetener — commonly used, well within EFSA ADIs at typical intakes.
What this is not. Not medical advice. The 2023 WHO advisory on non-sugar sweeteners notes that long-term use shows no benefit for body weight management and possible association with cardiometabolic outcomes — the WHO recommends people not use NSS for weight control. EFSA's safety assessments remain the regulatory framework.
Why this is free. Per SCANSMART's Belongs-to-Everyone Rule.
Sources
- EFSA Scientific Opinions — per-sweetener safety assessments and ADIs (aspartame 2013 re-evaluation, sucralose, ace-K, saccharin, neotame, advantame, steviol glycosides)
- Commission Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives — retained UK law
- Food Information Regulations 2014 — declaration and warning requirements
- FIR Annex III — "may have a laxative effect" warning for >10% added polyols
- WHO 2023 Use of Non-Sugar Sweeteners Guideline — conditional recommendation against NSS for weight control
- UK Food Standards Agency — consumer guidance on sweeteners
All sweeteners listed are EU/UK-approved as of May 2026. UK divergence in additive approvals post-Brexit remains limited to date.
Where this reference connects.
For deeper evidence-vault treatment connecting this reference to the SCANSMART analytical framework, see: Impulse Buying Triggers · Food Marketing to Kids · Brand vs Manufacturer · Reformulation Tracking · Cultural Food Myths · Global Staple Foods · Dietary Patterns · Carbohydrate Types · Caffeine and Health · Industry Funding Bias in Nutrition Research · UPF Brain & Cognitive Claims · Children’s Oral Health (the dental-specific xylitol, sorbitol, erythritol evidence) · Behaviour Change & Decision-Point Capture.
Reference-format consistency pass · 11 May 2026 · Stale-date reminder: re-check after next WHO non-nutritive sweetener (NNS) advisory update and June 2026 FSA Board meeting · SCANSMART is a food literacy and decision-support platform. It is not a medical device and does not provide medical advice.