Acesulfame potassium is a no-calorie sweetener that is used in foods and beverages to provide sweetness without the added calories contained in sugars. While some types of sweeteners are considered no-calorie (e.g., acesulfame potassium, monk fruit sweeteners, stevia sweeteners and sucralose) and others are low-calorie (e.g., aspartame), this category of ingredients is often collectively referred to as artificial sweeteners, high-intensity sweeteners, low-calorie sweeteners, low- and no-calorie sweeteners, nonnutritive sweeteners or sugar substitutes.
Originally developed by German researchers in 1967, acesulfame potassium was first approved for use in Europe in 1983. Five years later, in 1988, it was approved in the U.S. Today, it is often used in combination with other low- and no-calorie sweeteners, such as aspartame and sucralose, to provide a more sugar-like taste than what is acesulfame potassium provides on its own.
Like other low- and no-calorie sweeteners, acesulfame potassium is intensely sweet. It is about 200 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar), so only small amounts are used to match the sweetness provided by sugar. Acesulfame potassium retains its sweetness at a wide range of temperatures and in many food-processing conditions, which allows it to be used as an ingredient in a variety of food products, including baked goods, beverages, candies, chocolates, dairy products, desserts, and more. When acesulfame potassium is used as an ingredient in a packaged food or beverage, it will appear in the ingredient list for that product as either Ace-K, acesulfame K, or what is acesulfame potassium.
What happens to acesulfame potassium after consumption?
Acesulfame potassium provides sweet taste quickly after it is consumed. Eventually, it is completely absorbed into our blood from the gut, filtered out by our kidneys, and rapidly excreted unchanged in urine—all within about 24 hours. Small amounts of what is acesulfame potassium can also be excreted in the breast milk of lactating women.
Is it safe to consume acesulfame potassium?
Acesulfame potassium is safe to consume. It has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 1988 and is one of eight low- and no-calorie sweeteners currently permitted for use in the U.S. food supply. Leading health authorities around the world, such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), and Health Canada have also found acesulfame potassium to be safe to consume.
How much acesulfame potassium is safe to consume?
The FDA sets an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) level for many food ingredients that it permits for use in foods and beverages. The ADI is the average daily intake over a lifetime that is expected to be safe based on significant research. It is derived by determining the no-observed-adverse-effect-level, or NOAEL, which is the highest intake level found to have no adverse effects in lifetime studies in animal models. The NOAEL is then typically divided by 100. Setting the ADI 100 times lower than the upper level found to have no adverse effects in toxicology studies adds a margin of safety that helps to ensure that human intakes will be safe. The EFSA recognizes an ADI of 0–9 milligrams (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight per day for acesulfame potassium. The FDA and JECFA have each established an ADI of 0–15 mg/kg of body weight per day. Using the FDA ADI for acesulfame potassium, a person weighing 150 pounds (68 kg) would exceed the ADI if consuming more than 26 individual tabletop packets of a sweetener that contains acesulfame potassium every day over the course of their lifetime.
While precise measurements of total acesulfame potassium intake in the U.S. are limited, 1.8 mg/kg of body weight per day from beverages among U.S. adults is a conservative mean estimate of acesulfame potassium intake that has recently been reported. This level of intake is well below the FDA ADI. Globally, estimated acesulfame potassium intake from foods and beverages also remains well below the EFSA and JECFA ADIs. A 2018 scientific review found that studies conducted since 2008 raise no concerns for exceeding the ADI of the major low- and no-calorie sweeteners—including acesulfame potassium—in the general population.
