Table sweeteners containing Aspartame include Canderel® and NutraSweet®. Moreover, it is used in a variety of dishes across the world, including as beverages, pastries, and sweets (European code E951). It is a white, flavourless powder that is produced by mixing phenylalanine with aspartic acid. It is around 200 times sweeter than sugar. Diketopiperazine, which has no sweetening characteristics, is the primary contaminant in it.
Both in the dry form and in frozen goods, Aspartame is stable. Nevertheless, it gradually transforms into diketopiperazine at temperatures over 30 °C, which is partially broken down into methanol, aspartic acid, and phenylalanine. The sweetness is lost as a result of these changes. Aspartame cannot be used in meals that have been cooked or sterilised.
Concerns with Aspartame and its breakdown products have been voiced (methanol, phenylalanine and aspartic acid). These worries include neurological system consequences, brain tumours, and epilepsy. Another issue is the potential impact of aspartame breakdown products on particular groups of people, such as healthy newborns, young children, adults, obese people, diabetics, nursing mothers, and those with the phenylketonuria (PKU) condition.
