To be annoyed about artificial sweeteners in absolutely everything

[squarecorners]

I'm not a health food nazi at all. I love a Bernard Matthews cheesy hamwich as much as the next slummy mummy but I do make about 70% of our meals from scratch. I just think we should be informed and have a choice about what we consume. I noticing more and more that artificial sweetener is now the default option. In McDonald's they only do sprite zero now- I had a bout of sickness a few weeks ago and needed a boost and literally could not buy anything that wasn't boosted with artifical sweeteners. When I've eaten out recently I could taste sweeteners in the food, I even found one of my favourite cooking sauces has sweeteners added (it's like a Worcester sauce type thing).
I'm convinced this will end up like trans fats (oh fuck I've just said trans on mumsnet, take cover...) where the food manufacturers used them as a cheap solution to getting rid of saturated fat but found out they are actually worse. Without becoming a complete organic hippy how the hell do we go about getting convenient food that isn't full of aspartame?

YANBU

It's the lack of clear labelling, particularly about the spate of recent recipe changes that is infuriating.

I strongly dislike artificial sweetners, for their odd soapy tastes, for the hours of lingering after taste, for the aspartame headaches and the insatiable thirst that they trigger. Fortunately the consequences of being caught out aren't serious for me like they are for the people seeking sugar with underlying health issues.

As sweetners have become more prevelent, public health has not improved. I suspect that people are lured into a false sense of security that drinking sweet low calorie drinks has no ill consequences. The trouble is, as imperfect as sugar is, the body knows how to respond to it, and I believe that the jury is out on how the body responds to artificial sweetners long term. There is concern that they may be problematic for insulin response and desire for further sweet cravings. At least when drinking a red coca cola, I know it's a lot of sugar and that leads me to consume it more sporadically. If I want a low sugar option, there is water. (I mean real water, not the synthetic flavoured weird stuff) Just swapping to artificial sweetners isn't actually changing poor lifestyle habits.

The trouble is as someone who hates tea and coffee (also can't have milk or soya due to intolerances) my options for a pleasant drink are getting incredibly scarce. Frustrating when I manage a fairly decent diet and healthy weight and sometimes want a sugary quick energy kick due to intense exercise or actually just a change from water, water or more water.

I agree, I would rather have the sugar. The artificial sweeteners appear to give me mouth ulcers and headaches and now they are practically impossible to avoid fgs

@UrgentScurryfunge THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS

OP cooking sauces, deserts, drinks, soup

And that;s your definition of a "joyful life"?
Give me strength.

The problem is not the sweeteners it's the use of processed foods.

We don;t eat any artificial sweeteners, they are really easy to avoid.

No, but I certainly don't particularly enjoy forensically examining everything I eat. Like I said I cook a lot from scratch but I think in my diet there's room for treats and yes occasionally junk food. I like eating out and yes, it's enjoyable but my enjoyment is spoiled by artificial sweeteners in an otherwise tasty meal because the restaurant has bought in chocolate sauce that has sweeteners in. I don't want them banned, I just don't want them in everything!

I drink water or tea 98% of the time. Very occasionally I fancy a drink of something else. Maybe a couple of times a month. I really strongly dislike the taste of artificial sweeteners - I've never tried one I couldn't taste. Quite apart from the potential health impacts (and I do believe there will be some, years down the line) I want a bloody drink I enjoy! I have rocks blackcurrant squash but it's not the easiest to get hold of always (sold out online at ocado for ages now and in fact I've just had a look and can't see it at all anymore).

I went into Asda the other day and there wasn't a single squash that didn't have artificial sweeteners.

Went to Morrisions earlier and all their high juice squashes now contain sweeteners, bloody pissed off. Our local BM had old style Ribena so i stocked up on that, but after when its all finished, unless a revolt is mounted and manufacturers listen, then ill be drinking water, tea and coffee.

I like coke zero and pepsi max but i know that drinking too much gives me migraines. Im too fat to drink full sugar coke and would rather have a chocolate bar that usually contains less sugar. It must be something about the combination of sweeteners and colours in squashes as they bring on almost instant headaches.

I’m pregnant, and the taste of aspartame makes me feel so ill. It’s so hard to find a squash that doesn’t have it in!
- not envy

squarecorners I don't "forensiccaly" examine anything I eat. Or even check labels.

The kind of food we eat as a family does not contain sweeteners.
I would be hard pushed to find anything in my store cupboard that contains sweeteners.

Aspartame and sucralose were originally devised as rat and ant poisons because they were sweet and tempting whilst causing insidious neurological damage. In high enough - or cumulative - doses they have similar effects on humans. They have not been proved safe - any studies are biased as to the desired result. Brain damage aside, diet products do not help lose weight, they cause the body to be confused - when it tastes sweet, it expects sweet and so they actually cause cravings. Granted I'm a health nut (a qualified one!) but over my dead body would I consume - or allow any of mine to consume - artificial sweeteners. If I had to choose one or the other then sugar all the way!

Speaking you never eat baken beans, jarred mayonnaise or individual yogurts?

How about sliced bread? Or jam?

Sorry speakout

Or the really confusing slicked ham or even bacon!

aspartame has no harmful effects?
So why are u.s navy pilots banned from drinking or eating it for 24hrs before a flight then?
Or why do every child I know go absolutely loopy when given too much product with it in then suffer what I call the fake sugar come down?
Or Lloyds chemist own brand infant paracetamol causing hallucinations?

People want to know why there's so much hyperactivity today? look at what you are ignorantly feeding ur kids?
My dd doesn't have anything with a high artificial Sweetner content (in fact calpol is the only thing) at home, ever since the own brand paracetamol incident, but I can tell immediately if she's been given it by some1 else (ie school, another parent etc) as her whole behaviour and general personality changes for the worse.

For those looking for an alternative to aspartame in drinks, Pure juice that is 'not/never from concentrate' has only natural sugars in them.
x

Jam no
I only eat natural yoghurt.
Don't eat mayo.
Just checked baked bean can- no artificial sweeetners.

I’m sure artificial sweeteners will be the diesel of the next couple of decades. The government will force the move from sugar to artificial sweeteners as they encouraged the use of diesel and when they decide that there are detrimental aspects and change theirpolitical minds, the public will be punished for the consequences that they were forced into in the first place.

I don't like sweeteners (the taste is horrible, much rather have sugar) but aspartame was originally developed as an anti-ulcer medicine and sucrolose has always been a sweetener. Neither were developed as rat or ant poisons.

As a said not a fan from a taste point of view and I do think they don't solve the issue (we should eat less sweet things rather than trying to find a get out of jail alternative) but the amount of pseudo science woo easily disprovable bullshit on this sort of thread pisses me off

YANBU!

Juice from concentrate doesn't have added sugars either. Legally it can only be diluted back to strength with no sugar or sweetener added.
Juice drinks may have sugar and / or sweetener added. They are not pure juice.

I was so passed off to find AS in bacon, sausages and ham I have to read bloody everything

katymac Ffs am I going to have to start curing my own bloody bacon now as well??

Totally agree! I couldn’t believe how many child marketed drinks like squash etc have this poison in them! Thank god mine love their water. We get strange looks from guests when we tell them we don’t have squash in the house for the kids. It’s watered down juice if necessary!

I have actually considered curing my own bacon as an experiment, but I'd rather not have to!

Fully agree with you. Trying to get any drinks now without sweetener (and in glass not plastic) is really really difficult.

I hate the artificial sweeteners. They taste foul and we have no idea what the long term effects on us will be. The amount we could potentially consume now is quite frightening - they are popping up in food groups that were never envisaged when the initial tests were done to determine their "safety".