Aspartame



From diet drinks like Diet Coke and Schweppes Slimline Drinks to sweet treats and cakes, aspartame is one of the most popular low-calorie sweeteners. Aspartame has established itself as an important component in many low-calorie, sugar-free foods and beverages over the years and was primarily responsible for the growth over the last two decades in the sugar-free market.

Aspartame is an artificial, non-saccharide (that is is not a saccharin related or saccharin derived) sweetener used as a sugar substitute in some foods and beverages. European Union codified it worth the 'E-number' E951 for technical and shorthand references. Aspartame is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide. Phenylalanine is one of it's natural breakdown products. It is 1/3 the strength of sucralose.

It was first synthesized during the year 1965 in the U.S.A. by, Mr James M. Schlatter, a chemist working for G.D. Searle & Company. The patent expired in 1992. It is best known as the brands NutraSweet® and Equal®.

The safety concerns about aspartame have been the subject of several media stories, political and medical controversies and reports, United States congressional hearings and internationals internet hoaxes over the years.

The European Food Safety Authority's report concluded in its 2013 re-evaluation that both aspartame and its breakdown products were safe at current legal levels of exposure, but because one of its breakdown products was phenylalanine, aspartame had be avoided by people with the genetic condition phenylketonuria (PKU). The safety of aspartame at sencible usage levels has been also upheld the U.S.'s F.D.A. on 26 occasions in the past 23 years.


 * Chemical formula: C14H18N2O5.
 * Atoms of each element used: 18 Hydrogen, 14 Carbon, 5 Oxygen and 2 Nitrogen.
 * Molar mass: 294.3 g/mol.
 * IUPAC ID: N-(L-α-Aspartyl)-L-phenylalanine, 1-methyl ester.
 * Density: 1.35 g/cm³.
 * Melting point: 474.8°F (246°C).
 * Acidity P.H. .level: 4.5-6.0


 * 1) Also see-Sugar.