No drinks with sweeteners for younger children, say UK advisers

Younger children should not be given drinks containing artificial sweeteners, British experts are currently advised.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) recommendations apply to drinks such as sugar-free “tooth-like” squash with ingredients such as aspartame, stevia, saccharin and sucralose.

Preschool children say they should get used to drinking water instead.

Sweeteners may help older children cut down on sugar.

Too much sugar increases the risk of tooth decay and the long-term health status, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.

Artificial sweeteners were developed as alternatives to provide a sweet taste that is low or no calories.

Everything used in the UK is approved and has undergone rigorous safety testing.

However, some are concerned about increasing the sweet taste preferences of children that are difficult to overcome.

After reviewing available evidence, Sacn states that evidence that sweeteners are cutting cavities is “poor,” but along with “other positive changes in the diet,” the reduction in free sugars is likely to be beneficial to overall health.

While using sweeteners that help reduce weight gain in the short to medium term may be worth some degree, he says, “it’s not essential and isn’t the only option.”

SACN Committee experts are concerned about the “data gap” regarding UK population exposure to sweeteners.

They say there is “inadequate evidence” to conduct a full risk assessment now and they are asking the government to gather more.

A social care spokesman for the Ministry of Health said the government is committed to turning the trend towards obesity and taking bold action to crack down on advertising for child-targeted junk food on television and online.

Professor Robin May, Chief Scientific Advisor of the Food Standards Agency, said: “We strongly support Sakun’s demands for the industry to publish data on the amount of these sweeteners so that people can consume and inform them of ratings for these ingredients,” he said.

Professor Graham Finlayson, chairman of psychobiology at Leeds University, said it was reasonable to be cautious, especially in children, but the evidence wasn’t strong enough to dismiss non-sugar sweeteners as a tool to reduce sugar intake.

“If obesity and diabetes rates increase, changes in knee ear policies can be more harmful than good,” he warned.

The International Sweeteners Association (ISA) stated: “As part of an overall healthy diet and lifestyle, we can use low/calorie sweeteners to further our public health goals regarding reducing sugar intake.

“ISA supports SACN’s call for continued investment in high quality, long-term research.”