* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Gen V Season 2: What is The Odessa Project? – yahoo.com

    Gen V Season 2: Unlocking the Secrets of The Odessa Project

    PENN Entertainment stock rating reiterated at Market Outperform by JMP – Investing.com

    PENN Entertainment Stock Rated a Market Outperformer by Experts

    Here’s how NJ’s once-vibrant nightclub scene was born and why it died – Bergen Record

    The Rise and Fall of New Jersey’s Once-Vibrant Nightclub Scene: What Happened?

    The Emmys are back: Viewership soars to highest numbers in 4 years – yahoo.com

    The Emmys Return with a Bang: Viewership Hits a 4-Year High

    From Spinal Tap II to Ed Sheeran : your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead – The Guardian

    Fall’s Hottest Ski Films Are Going on Tour—Here’s the List – yahoo.com

    Experience the Thrill: Fall’s Hottest Ski Films Hit the Road-Don’t Miss the Tour!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    City IT presented Best of North Carolina Technology Award – RaleighNC.gov

    City IT Honored with Best of North Carolina Technology Award

    LELO Releases 2025 Futurist Report: Intergenerational Views on Relationships, Sex, and Technology – PR Newswire

    Exploring the Future: How Different Generations View Relationships, Sex, and Technology in 2025

    Will New Big Technology Engagements Reshape Innodata’s Growth Path? – Yahoo Finance

    Could New Major Tech Partnerships Propel Innodata to Unprecedented Growth?

    Unlocking AI Success: How People, Process, and Technology Form the Ultimate Triangle

    Billion-dollar coffins? New technology could make oceans transparent and Aukus submarines vulnerable – The Guardian

    Billion-Dollar Coffins? How New Technology Could Make Oceans Transparent and Expose Submarines

    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Gen V Season 2: What is The Odessa Project? – yahoo.com

    Gen V Season 2: Unlocking the Secrets of The Odessa Project

    PENN Entertainment stock rating reiterated at Market Outperform by JMP – Investing.com

    PENN Entertainment Stock Rated a Market Outperformer by Experts

    Here’s how NJ’s once-vibrant nightclub scene was born and why it died – Bergen Record

    The Rise and Fall of New Jersey’s Once-Vibrant Nightclub Scene: What Happened?

    The Emmys are back: Viewership soars to highest numbers in 4 years – yahoo.com

    The Emmys Return with a Bang: Viewership Hits a 4-Year High

    From Spinal Tap II to Ed Sheeran : your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead – The Guardian

    Fall’s Hottest Ski Films Are Going on Tour—Here’s the List – yahoo.com

    Experience the Thrill: Fall’s Hottest Ski Films Hit the Road-Don’t Miss the Tour!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    City IT presented Best of North Carolina Technology Award – RaleighNC.gov

    City IT Honored with Best of North Carolina Technology Award

    LELO Releases 2025 Futurist Report: Intergenerational Views on Relationships, Sex, and Technology – PR Newswire

    Exploring the Future: How Different Generations View Relationships, Sex, and Technology in 2025

    Will New Big Technology Engagements Reshape Innodata’s Growth Path? – Yahoo Finance

    Could New Major Tech Partnerships Propel Innodata to Unprecedented Growth?

    Unlocking AI Success: How People, Process, and Technology Form the Ultimate Triangle

    Billion-dollar coffins? New technology could make oceans transparent and Aukus submarines vulnerable – The Guardian

    Billion-Dollar Coffins? How New Technology Could Make Oceans Transparent and Expose Submarines

    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    What if artificial intelligence is just a “normal” technology? – The Economist

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Entertainment

Are sweeteners good or bad for the planet?

July 19, 2024
in Entertainment
Are sweeteners good or bad for the planet?
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Sugar substitutes promise so much. Not only can they significantly reduce sugar content in food and drink, but often do so while maintaining – or even exceeding – the sweetness perception of sugar.  

Consumer acceptance and public health tend to dominate the sugar substitute discussion. Less common is the topic of environmental sustainability. But with more and more manufacturers turning to sweeteners – both artificial and natural – it’s important to assess their eco credentials. Are sweeteners good or bad for the planet? 

Sucralose: The ‘tough’ molecule that doesn’t degrade easily 

It’s impossible to answer this question in one go, since a wide variety of sweeteners exist (from aspartame to saccharin, stevia to sucralose), and all have different sustainability credentials. 

But fresh research out of the US has sought to assess the environmental impact of one popular no-calorie sweetener: sucralose.  

The artificial sweetener, otherwise known as E955, adds minimal calories to food and beverage products since the body is unable to break it down. In fact, the compound is so stable that it even escapes wastewater treatment processing and ends up in driving water and aquatic environments. 

“We can’t break down sucralose, and a lot of microorganisms can’t break it down either, because it’s a really tough molecule that doesn’t degrade easily,” explained University of Florida assistant research scientist Tracey Schafer, who co-authored a study recently published in the academic journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.    

“So there are a lot of questions about how it is affecting the environment and whether it’s something that could impact our microbial communities.” 

Do consumers prefer the taste of sweetener to sugar?

That’s a tough one to answer. Some sweeteners come with a bitter aftertaste that consumers are less keen on. But depending on the application and formulation, sweeteners can prove a hit with consumers.  

The proof? Look no further than the overwhelmingly popular ‘light’ versions of sugar-heavy carbonated soft drinks by the likes of Coca-Cola or PepsiCo – both of which contain aspartame. In the US alone, diet sodas make up more than a quarter of the carbonated soft drink market, according to Statista. 

Aquatic bacteria ‘spikes and crashes’ when exposed to sucralose 

Researchers centred their research around the impact of sucralose on cyanobacteria (an aquatic photosynthetic bacteria) and diatoms, microscopic algae that account for more than 30% of food production in the marine food chain. 

The team exposed samples of soil and water (from both brackish and freshwater sources) to different sucralose concentrations, measuring photosynthesis and microbial respiration every four to six hours, and every 24 hours, over the course of five days. 

cyanobacteria NNehringThe researchers looked at the impact of sucralose on cyanobacteria. GettyImages/NNehring

The findings are concerning. Compared to the control group, the concentration of brackish cyanobacteria ‘spiked and then crashed’ when exposed to sucralose.  

The concentration of freshwater cyanobacteria increased, but both freshwater and brackish diatoms displayed an overall decreasing trend in population compared to the control group. 

Sucralose: A threat to microbial communities? 

“There is the potential that the freshwater communities might be mistaking sucralose for a nutrient, for a sugar they can use as food,” explained lead author Amelia Westmoreland. 

But whether this is the case or not, sucralose’s ability to both increase and decrease microbial community populations is considered a possible threat to a naturally balanced ecosystem. “Extreme examples of how this could play out are the diatom community could disappear, and the other extreme is this community could completely overtake everything else,” said Westmoreland. 

The study is considered a ‘good first step’ in fully understanding the impact of sucralose on aquatic environments, with Schafer hoping it will ‘drive more research forward’. 

Are other sweeteners better for the environment? 

Sucralose is an artificial sweetener, but not all sweeteners fall under this category. Stevia, for example, is considered a ‘natural’ sweetener, and when grown in Europe, is thought to be more environmentally sustainable than cane and beet sugar. 

That’s according to EU-funded research published early last year​, which found that production of steviol glycosides extracted from stevia grown in Europe produces just 10% of the greenhouse has emissions associated with sugar production, according to a life cycle assessment. 

Researchers analysed environmental impacts in terms of both production mass and sweetness equivalence, comparing those to sugar derived from cane and beets. Findings revealed that steviol glycoside mix RA60 produced from the stevia leaf in Europe causes less environmental impact across a wide range of markers, when compared to sugar. For example, it offers an opportunity to reduce land use or water consumption compared to the same level of sweetness as sugar. 

The global warming potential of RA60 was found to be 20.25kg CO2e/kg on a mass basis and 0.081kg/CO2e/kg on a sweetness equivalence basis. 

The primary source of impact was the field production of stevia leaves, with the second most important coming from extraction of the RA60. “Leaf processing and seedling propagation were minor contributors to life cycle impact,” explained the researchers. 

By removing the international transport element, global warming potential was reduced by 18.8%. Compared with sugar on a sweetness equivalence basis, RA60 has approximately 5.7% to 10.2% the impact for global warming potential, 5.6% to 7.2% the impact for land use, and is lower across most other impact categories. 

stevia HandmadePicturesStevia is considered a ‘natural’ sweetener, and when grown in Europe, is thought to be more environmentally sustainable than cane and beet sugar. GettyImages/HandmadePictures

“The use of steviol glycosides and similar natural products could be sweet news for the health of our planet,” said the University of Surrey’s Dr James Suckling, lead author of the study.  

While many non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS), like steviol glycosides, don’t present the same health risks associated with sucrose – such as tooth decay, obesity, or diabetes – because they are many times sweeter, the researcher did suggest more research is required into the health impacts of the NNS category. 

“The use of steviol glycosides and similar natural products could be sweet news for the health of our planet. However, our study readily admits that much more work needs to be done to understand the health impacts of steviol glycosides and other non-nutritive sweeteners when consumed as part of a wider diet.” 

Source: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
‘Sucralose (C12H19Cl3O8) impact on microbial activity in estuarine and freshwater marsh soils’
Published 13 April 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-024-12610-5
Authors: Amelia Westmoreland, Tracey Schafer, Kendall Breland, Anna Beard, and Todd Osborne.

Source: The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
Environmental life cycle assessment of production of the high intensity sweetener steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana leaf grown in Europe: The SWEET project’
Published 14 January 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-022-02127-9
Authors: J. Suckling, S. Morse, R. Murphy, S. Astley et al.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : FoodNavigator – https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2024/07/18/are-sweeteners-environmentally-sustainable?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS

Tags: entertainmentPlanetsweeteners
Previous Post

Is dairy linked to deforestation?

Next Post

Consumers are craving comfort foods and beverages

The FCDO’s Approach to Displaced People – ReliefWeb

How the FCDO is Transforming Support for Displaced People

September 17, 2025
Indonesia ponders pro-growth mandate for central bank as economy flags – Financial Times

Indonesia ponders pro-growth mandate for central bank as economy flags – Financial Times

September 17, 2025
Gen V Season 2: What is The Odessa Project? – yahoo.com

Gen V Season 2: Unlocking the Secrets of The Odessa Project

September 17, 2025
Is the Economy as Healthy as Trump Claims? – The New York Times

Is the Economy as Healthy as Trump Claims? – The New York Times

September 17, 2025
Inside Stephen A. Smith’s near-$40M-a-year bonanza as he launches into political prime time – The New York Times

Inside Stephen A. Smith’s near-$40M-a-year bonanza as he launches into political prime time – The New York Times

September 17, 2025
Torch Lake faces ecological challenges from invasive Quagga Mussels – WPBN

Torch Lake Fights Back Against the Growing Threat of Invasive Quagga Mussels

September 17, 2025
New Data Science Minor Prepares Students for Data-Driven World – CSUF News

Unlock Your Potential with the Exciting New Data Science Minor Designed for a Data-Driven Future

September 17, 2025
Miami University’s Cleveland Clinic Health Sciences and Wellness facility. – Cleveland Clinic Newsroom

Explore Miami University’s Exciting New Cleveland Clinic Health Sciences and Wellness Center

September 17, 2025
This Is The Most Popular Soup In The U.S. Right Now—And It’s A Fall Classic – yahoo.com

This Fall’s Most Beloved Soup Is Taking the U.S. by Storm

September 17, 2025
City IT presented Best of North Carolina Technology Award – RaleighNC.gov

City IT Honored with Best of North Carolina Technology Award

September 17, 2025

Categories

Archives

September 2025
MTWTFSS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930 
« Aug    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (823)
  • Economy (843)
  • Entertainment (21,722)
  • General (17,086)
  • Health (9,888)
  • Lifestyle (857)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (847)
  • Politics (853)
  • Science (16,054)
  • Sports (21,343)
  • Technology (15,825)
  • World (827)

Recent News

The FCDO’s Approach to Displaced People – ReliefWeb

How the FCDO is Transforming Support for Displaced People

September 17, 2025
Indonesia ponders pro-growth mandate for central bank as economy flags – Financial Times

Indonesia ponders pro-growth mandate for central bank as economy flags – Financial Times

September 17, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version