The search for guilt-free sweetness that spares waistlines and safe sweetness for diabetics has led to the rise of “natural” sweeteners: extracts from particular plants whose sweetness does not derive from sugar, and cannot be metabolized by the body. You might have heard of stevia, and now there is also the up-and-coming monk fruit sweetener, derived from mogrosides in monk fruit, also called swingle fruit or luo han guo. However, what is marketed as “natural” does not necessarily equal “healthy” for consumers, nor is “natural” necessarily environmentally-friendly in production.
Concerns over sweetener safety has led to global legislation. The FDA has not approved the use of raw stevia, and stevia originally was banned in the U.S. in 1991 due to studies that suggested the sweetener may cause cancer, and though the ban has since been lifted, actions by other countries show that safety is not guaranteed. The European Union continues to ban sale of the plant as a food or food ingredient because of safety concerns. Although newer sweeteners such as monk fruit sweetner have not been officially banned, it is of note that the AHA recommends that children and adolescents should limit their intake of artificial sweeteners, including so-called natural sweeteners like monk fruit sweetener, due to the inconclusive evidence on their effects. In particular, children under the age of two should not eat or drink anything with such sweeteners. CSPI recommends caution because the monk fruit sweetener has been poorly tested in animals.
What may seem natural in origin may acquire carcinogenic properties due to comtamination in production processes. Mogrosides from monk fruit are processed and extracted with methyl alcohol or other toxic chemicals, and traces of these chemicals may remain in the final products, particularly when production plants are poorly equipped and underregulated. Furthermore, such extraction factories may substantially mar their environment and the health of local populations. One of the major monk fruit sweetener producers, Ji Fu Si, a poorly equipped enterprise based in Guilin, China, is the nexus of air, river water, and groundwater polution in its county, with a significant number of cancer cases among farmers living nearby in the polluted environment. With such enterprises lacking the updated technology to control their environmental impact, it raises questions as to how safe and pure their extractions actually are.
A Danish study done involving 59,334 pregnant women found that the intake of artificially sweetened beverage was associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery, so use of artificial sweeteners including stevia and monk fruit should be done with caution for high-risk individuals such as pregnant and lactating women, diabetics, migraine and epilepsy patients, and children. Many of sweeteners' purported beneficial effects remain invalidated in large scale clinical studies.
Concerns over sweetener safety has led to global legislation. The FDA has not approved the use of raw stevia, and stevia originally was banned in the U.S. in 1991 due to studies that suggested the sweetener may cause cancer, and though the ban has since been lifted, actions by other countries show that safety is not guaranteed. The European Union continues to ban sale of the plant as a food or food ingredient because of safety concerns. Although newer sweeteners such as monk fruit sweetner have not been officially banned, it is of note that the AHA recommends that children and adolescents should limit their intake of artificial sweeteners, including so-called natural sweeteners like monk fruit sweetener, due to the inconclusive evidence on their effects. In particular, children under the age of two should not eat or drink anything with such sweeteners. CSPI recommends caution because the monk fruit sweetener has been poorly tested in animals.
What may seem natural in origin may acquire carcinogenic properties due to comtamination in production processes. Mogrosides from monk fruit are processed and extracted with methyl alcohol or other toxic chemicals, and traces of these chemicals may remain in the final products, particularly when production plants are poorly equipped and underregulated. Furthermore, such extraction factories may substantially mar their environment and the health of local populations. One of the major monk fruit sweetener producers, Ji Fu Si, a poorly equipped enterprise based in Guilin, China, is the nexus of air, river water, and groundwater polution in its county, with a significant number of cancer cases among farmers living nearby in the polluted environment. With such enterprises lacking the updated technology to control their environmental impact, it raises questions as to how safe and pure their extractions actually are.
A Danish study done involving 59,334 pregnant women found that the intake of artificially sweetened beverage was associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery, so use of artificial sweeteners including stevia and monk fruit should be done with caution for high-risk individuals such as pregnant and lactating women, diabetics, migraine and epilepsy patients, and children. Many of sweeteners' purported beneficial effects remain invalidated in large scale clinical studies.
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