人造甜味剂与人体健康风险

人造甜味剂由于其甜价比高、热量低而备受食品制造行业及消费者青睐。目前我国允许使用的人造甜味剂共9种,可应用至十几大类食品和饮料中。然而已有动物实验及流行病学数据显示,人造甜味剂的长期大量摄入可能会导致高血糖、葡萄糖耐受不良、肥胖等代谢系统性疾病,易怒、抑郁、记忆衰退、阿尔兹海默症等神经系统异常。人造甜味剂甚至被报道具有遗传毒性和致癌性。考虑到人造甜味剂可能对人体造成的健康风险,需对其摄入量进行控制,或有倾向性地选择新型人造甜味剂,同时还需要加强对新型人造甜味剂的安全性深入研究。

Human Health Risks of Artificial Sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners (AS) are favored by food manufacturing markets and consumers due to their high sweetness, low prices and low calories. At present, 9 kinds of AS are approved in more than 10 categories of food and beverages in China. However, the emerging animal experimental and epidemiological studies have shown that long-term and high consumption may lead to metabolic diseases including hyperglycemia, glucose intolerance and obesity, and cause nervous system abnormalities such as irritabi-lity, depression, memory decline and Alzheimer''s disease. Moreover, some AS even are linked to genotoxicity and carcinogenicity. Given the possible health risks of AS, it is necessary to control AS consumption, or to develop new AS with a tendency. Meanwhile, the further safety studies regarding new AS should be enhanced.