Safety when heated of the sweetener Sucralose confirmed by global scientific and regulatory authorities

A statement from the Calorie Control Council

April 16, 2019 (Updated April 17, 2020) — In response to a 2019 German Federal Institute (BfR) report¹ on the stability of sucralose when processed at high temperatures, and the recent publication of the associated literature review², the Calorie Control Council reiterates that the status of the safety of the sweetener sucralose remains clear. There are no safety concerns related to the use and consumption of sucralose, including in products that are processed using heat.  The report issued by BfR conceded that their study had many limitations, and despite the addition of recent studies, the recent publication still concluded that “the available data are not sufficient to draw final conclusions on the health risk.”

Sucralose is heat stable, making it ideal for use in baking, canning, pasteurization, aseptic processing and other manufacturing processes that require high temperatures.  The American Diabetes Association also supports the stability of sucralose stating, “sucralose is not affected by heat and retains its sweetness in hot beverages, baked goods, and processed food”.

Sucralose is one of the most extensively studied ingredients and its safety has been verified by scientific and regulatory authorities around the world including the US Food and Drug Administration³, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)⁴, the Scientific Committee for Food (SCF)⁵ and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)⁶. Studies tested the safety of sucralose did not find any possible carcinogenic, reproductive and neurological effects, including those that could result from processing at high temperatures.

The current body of evidence continues to show sucralose is a safe and stable ingredient and should continue to be used alongside other sweeteners to reduce sugar and total calories in the diet.

1. German Federal Institute. Harmful Compounds Might Be Formed When Foods Containing the Sweetener Sucralose Are Heated.; 2019. doi:10.17590/20190409-142644
2. Andreas Eisenreich, Rainer Gürtler, and Bernd Schäfer. Heating of food containing sucralose might result in the generation of potentially toxic chlorinated compounds, Food Chemistry 2020: 321; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.126700.
3. PART 172—FOOD ADDITIVES PERMITTED FOR DIRECT ADDITION TO FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. USA https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=1&SID=c0f4112bab74084d5c7489f8fc3f4489&h=L&mc=true&n=pt21.3.172&r=PART&ty=HTML#_top.
4. Safety evaluation of certain food additives IPCS—International Programme on Chemical Safety. World Heal Organ. 2009.
5. European Commission Scientific Committee on Food. Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Food on sucralose. 2000;(September). https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/safety/docs/sci-com_scf_out68_en.pdf.
6. Aguilar F, Crebelli R, Di Domenico A, et al. Statement on the validity of the conclusions of a mouse carcinogenicity study on sucralose (E 955) performed by the Ramazzini Institute. EFSA J. 2017;15(5). doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4784