Dental caries. Nonnutritive sweeteners. Oral health. Diet and light drinks

Abstract

Carbohydrate rich diet, mainly sucrose, strongly influences caries development. The objective of this work is to study the sweeteners present in several kinds of diet and light drinks (soft drinks, juice and tea) available at supermarkets in Porto Alegre and to verify if the composition and concentration of sweeteners (mg/100ml) according to the product label comply to Brazilian legislation. Considering the maximum daily dosage recommended, the amount of liters and number of glasses of 300 ml of each kind of drink that can be ingested daily by a 20, 45 and 70 kg person, without having side effects, was calculated. The drinks have in their composition only nonnutritive sweeteners (saccharin, acesulfam-K, cyclamate and aspartame). The association of two or more sweeteners is used in each kind of drink. The products follow the determination of Brazilian legislation as to limits of use and labeling, there must be a warning about aspartame presence on the label. The amount of each brand drinks that can be ingested daily is variable (0,21-3,00 liters for a child who weighs 20 kilos). Diet and light drinks with nonnutritive sweeteners are noncariogenic, but their consume must to be made with caution.