The content of high-intensity sweeteners in different categories of foods available on the Polish market

Abstract

The objective of this study was to measure the concentrations of nine high-intensity sweeteners (acesulfame-K, aspartame, alitame, cyclamate, dulcin, neohesperidin DC, neotame, saccharin and sucralose) in different categories of food available on the Polish market. Over 170 samples of different brands of beverages, yoghurts, fruit preparations, vegetable preserves and fish products were analysed using an analytical procedure based on SPE and LC/MS. The results indicated that foodstuffs under the study generally comply with European Union legislation in terms of sweetener content. However, a few cases of food product mislabelling were detected, i.e. the use of cyclamate for non-approved applications.

Keywords:

• high-intensity sweeteners
• foodstuffs
• Polish market
• LC/MS

Acknowledgements

The financial support of the Polish Committee for Scientific Research (Research Project Numbers N N404 027535 and N N312 239139) is gratefully acknowledged. Agata Zygler expresses her gratitude for the financial support from the Human Capital Operational Programme (Project Number POKL.04.01.01-00-368/09).