Reading 6: Sweeteners

READING PASSAGE 6

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1 – 17 which are based on Reading 6.

Sweeteners

A

Sweeteners also have alternative names, such as sugar, sugar substitutes, and artificial sweeteners. There are two kinds of sweeteners: nutritive and non-nutritive. Nutritive sweeteners supply calories and energy to the body. Nutritive sweeteners, like sugar, have 4 calories per gram. Non-nutritive sweeteners do not provide energy to the body. They have no calories. They are called sugar substitutes. Aspartame is a sugar substitute. Most do not breakdown in the body like sugar does. They simply leave the body in the urine.

B

What food source is the nutrient found in? Some sweeteners are found naturally in fruits, and in vegetables such as sugar beets. Others are artificially manufactured. How does the nutrient affect the body? Nutritive sweeteners include sugar and sugar alcohols. Nutritive sweeteners make foods taste sweet. They also enhance moisture, tenderness, and the "mouth feel" of food, especially baked goods. These sweeteners can preserve some foods, which improves flavor and freshness. Non-nutritive sweeteners provide sweetness without calories. Most non-nutritive sweeteners do not improve the moisture or tenderness of baked goods.

C

All nutritive sweeteners, except sugars found in alcohol, provide 4 calories per gram, or 16 calories per teaspoon. Compared with fat, which has 9 calories per gram, sugars, like other carbohydrates are lower in calories. The problem comes when people eat too many sugary foods. The average American eats 20 teaspoons of sugar per day. Sugar is added to many foods to improve flavor. People often are not aware they are eating so much sugar. Government guidelines recommend eating sugar and sugary foods only occasionally. Fatty foods and sweets appear at the top and smallest part of the Food Guide Pyramid.

D

Nutritive sweeteners include: 

• all types of sugar. These include brown, powdered, granulated, and raw. These sugars come from sucrose made from sugar cane or sugar beets. 
• corn sweeteners made from corn. These provide 60 percent of average sugar consumption. High-fructose corn syrup is a major ingredient in sweetened foods including sodas and juice drinks. 
• dextrose, or glucose combined with water
• fructose, which is found naturally in fruits, now sold in granulated form
• honey made by bees, which is a mixture of fructose, glucose and water
• maple sugar, a natural sugar from trees
• molasses, a sweet syrup from the residue of making sugar cane into sugar
• sugar alcohols including sorbitol, mannitol and xylitol.

E

These sweeteners are used in candy, chewing gum, and in some baked goods. Sugar alcohols have about half the calories of other nutritive sweeteners. They are called sugar alcohols because of their chemical structure. They do not contain alcohol. They are not included on the food label under grams of sugar but they are included in the ingredient list. Unlike sugar, they are not cavity producing. Sugar alcohols don't break down completely in the body, so they do not affect blood sugar.

F

The FDA has approved four non-nutritive sweeteners. The four non-nutritive sweeteners are:

Saccharin, which was developed in 1879. It is made from a substance that occurs naturally in grapes, and is 300 times sweeter than sugar. Saccharin is the sweetener used in Sweet 'N Low and Sugar Twin. It is also used in fountain sodas combined with aspartame. The FDA proposed a ban on saccharin in 1977, when it was found that it could cause cancer in laboratory animals. But this was only if taken in very large amounts. The FDA decided that the amount consumed would be very difficult for someone to actually consume on a daily basis. They withdrew the ban in 1991 but products made with saccharin must have warning labels. The label reads: "Use of this product may be hazardous to your health. This product contains saccharin, which has been determined to cause cancer in laboratory animals."

Acesulfame-K (Ace-K), which is 200 times sweeter than sugar. The "K" stands for potassium. This sweetener does not breakdown when heated, so it can be used in cooking and baking. It does not provide bulk like sugar does so it may not work in some recipes. The brand name of the tabletop sweetener is Sweet One or Sunette. The FDA approved Ace-K in 1988.

Aspartame, is made from amino acids, the building blocks of protein. It is about 200 times sweeter than sugar. It is the most popular sugar substitute. It is used in more than 150 different types of products. Aspartame is available as a packaged sweetener called Equal or is added to foods under the name NutraSweet. The FDA approved aspartame in 1981. All foods or drinks that contain aspartame must have a warning that states that the product contains phenylalanine. This is for people that have a rare genetic order called phenylketonuria, or PKU. All babies are tested for this shortly after birth. People with PKU cannot properly breakdown phenylalanine in the body, which can be toxic. People with PKU must be careful about products containing Aspartame.

Sucralose, is the newest non-nutritive sweetener. Sucralose is made from table sugar but it cannot be digested, so it adds no calories. It is 600 times sweeter than sugar. It is approved for use in desserts, candies, and non-alcoholic beverages. It does not breakdown when heated, so it can be used in cooking and baking. It is marketed under the trade name Splenda. The FDA approved Sucralose in 1998.

G

More sugar substitutes are being developed and reviewed. Sugar substitutes must go through safety evaluations before the substitutes are put on the market. The FDA approves and constantly re-evaluates them. It can take up to as many as 10 years for a sweetener to go through intensive reviews.

Questions 1 – 6

Choose the heading which best sums up the meanings of Paragraphs A, B, C, D, E, F and G of the text. Write the appropriate numbers (i – vii) in boxes 1 - 6 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

i.        New sugar substitutes and how they come to the market.

ii.      Defining sweeteners.

iii.  Different types of nutritive sweeteners.

iv.  Origin of the nutritive sweeteners and their functions.

v.   Different types of non-nutritive sweeteners.

vi.  Use of nutritive sweeteners and their nutrition information.

vii. Nutrition facts about nutritive sweeteners and how they can be unhealthy.

1. Paragraph A

2. Paragraph B

3. Paragraph C

4. Paragraph D

5. Paragraph E

6. Paragraph F

Questions 8 - 12

Complete the table below using information from the reading passage. Write no more than three words for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 8-12 on your answer sheet.

Name of sweetener	Nutrition information	Relation to body
Nutritive sweeteners	supply …8 …	Harmful when eating too much
Non-nutritive sweeteners	… 9… calories	Can be harmful
…10…	do not break down	…11… in the urine
Compared with other nutritive sweeteners, sugar alcohols	contain about … 12… the calories	do not affect blood sugar

Questions 13 – 17

Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write your answers in boxes 13-17 on your answer sheet.

13. In terms of the source in which the nutrients are found, the sweeteners are

A. either man-made or found naturally.

B. either nutritious or non-nutritious

C. not toxic and harmful.

D. intensively reviewed through a period of 10 years.

14. Apart from providing calories, another major difference between nutritive and nonnutritive sweeteners is that

A. the former are always healthy.

B. most non-nutritive sweeteners improve the moisture or tenderness of baked goods while nutritive sweeteners do not.

C. most nutritive sweeteners improve the moisture or tenderness of baked goods while most non-nutritive sweetener do not.

D. non-nutritive sweeteners provide only half the calories that nutritive sweeteners provide.

15. According to the passage, which of the following best describes the government guidelines?

A. People should eat sugary foods regularly but do not eat too much.

B. People eat sugary foods occasionally.

C. People should eat too much sugary foods but not regularly.

D. People should not eat sugary foods at all.

16. Of the four non-nutritive sweeteners, Saccharin and Aspartame

A. do not contain many nutrients.

B. can cause cancer.

C. are not permitted to add to foods.

D. can be hazardous to health.

17. According to the passage, new sweeteners

A. will no longer be developed.

B. will be banned from market because of the their potential dangers.

C. will be produced rapidly to meet the market demand.

D. will not be put to market before they pass safety evaluations.