Heating of food containing sucralose might result in the generation of potentially toxic chlorinated compounds

Abstract

Sucralose is widely used as non-caloric intense artificial sweetener. It was previously considered to be thermally stable and safe. This was based on studies performed in the early 1990s. However, significant concerns have been raised more recently regarding the physicochemical stability of sucralose at high temperatures in the context of food processing. Over the last decades different independently performed studies indicated that sucralose is decomposed at high temperatures, e.g. through cooking. This - in turn - was considered to be associated with the formation of chlorinated potentially toxic compounds, such as chloropropanols and dioxins. In this review, the literature on thermal stability of sucralose and the generation of potentially toxic compounds was assessed and comparatively discussed. Considering the validity of published data, we conclude that sucralose can be degraded at high temperatures, e.g. during cooking or baking of sucralose-containing foods. As a consequence potentially toxic chlorinated compounds might be generated.

Keywords: Chloropropanols; Dioxins; Sucralose; Sweetener; Thermal decomposition; Trichlorogalactosucrose.