Sucralose is a low calorie artificial sweetener:

Is there any relationship between sucralose and high frutose corny syrup?

Sucralose and high fructose corn syrup are two different types of sugar. Sucralose is made from sugar and thus tastes like sugar, but is a low calorie artificial sweetener. It is around 600 times sweeter than sugar and can be effectively used to replace regular table sugar (sucrose) to cut down calories of a food product. It is generally used in a variety of foods like different beverages, desserts, baked good, dairy product, canned foods, syrups and condiments. Sucralose does not promote tooth decay and is also stable under heat and a broad range of pH and thus used in products that require longer shelf life.

Corn syrup (any group) that has undergone some enzymatic processes to increase the fructose percentage and then mixed with 100 percent glucose or pure corn syrup is called high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

It is not an artificial sweetener like sucralose. There are different kinds of HFCS - HFCS 90 (has 90 percent fructose and 10 percent glucose), HFCS 55 (has 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose), HFCS 42 (has 42 percent fructose and 58 percent glucose). When it comes to sweetness, HFCS 55 can be compared to sucrose or table sugar, on the other hand HFCS 90 has more sweetness than sucrose and HFCS 42 is little less sweet than sucrose. HFCS is used widely in many beverages because it is in the liquid form and easier to blend than sugar and more importantly it is somewhat cheaper than sugar.

Safety of sucralose and high fructose corn syrup - Sucralose is a non-caloric sweetener and more than 100 scientific studies conducted over two decades prove the safety of this sweetener; although a product that contains sucralose may contain calories. However sucralose can be effectively used as a sugar substitute in various products to decrease the total calories from a food product. Unlike other carbohydrates, sucralose is not identified as a sugar in the body and thus is not broken down for calories. After consumption it is directly eliminated from the body unchanged.

High fructose corn syrup on the other hand provides as many calories as sucrose when in solid form that is 4 kcal per gm and approximately provides 3 kcal per gm when in liquid form. Thus the group of individuals whose consumption of sodas and sweet drink containing HFCS is high consumes high empty calories. Excess consumption of calories especially from sugars has been related to many health diseases like obesity, heart disease and diabetes

Submitted on January 16, 2014