International Numbering System (INS) for Food Additives: 956
Food additives Europe numbers: E956
Functional Category
Sweetening agent
Applications in Pharmaceutical Formulation
Alitame is an intense sweetening agent developed in the early 1980s and is approximately 2000 times sweeter than sucrose. It has an insignificant energy contribution of 6 kJ (1.4 kcal) per gram of alitame. Alitame is currently primarily used in a wide range of foods and beverages at a maximum level of 40–300 mg/kg.
Description
Alitame is a white nonhygroscopic crystalline powder; odorless or having a slight characteristic odor
Stability and Storage Conditions
Alitame is stable in dry, room temperature conditions but undergoes degradation at elevated temperatures or when in solution at low pH. Alitame can degrade in a one-stage process to aspartic acid and alanine amide (under harsh conditions) or in a slow two-stage process by first degrading to its b-aspartic isomer and then to aspartic acid and alanine amide. At pH 5–8, alitame solutions at 238C have a half-life of approximately 4 years. At pH 2 and 238C the half-life is 1 year. Alitame should be stored in a well-closed container in a cool, dry place
Incompatibilities
Alitame may be incompatible with oxidizing and reducing substances or strong acids and bases
Safety
Alitame is a relatively new intense sweetening agent used primarily in foods and confectionary. It is generally regarded as a relatively nontoxic and nonirritant material. Chronic animal studies in mice, rats, and dogs carried out for a minimum of 18 months at concentrations >100 mg/kg per day exhibited no toxic or carcinogenic effects. In people, no evidence of untoward effects were observed following ingestion of 15 mg/kg per day for two weeks. Following oral administration 7–22% of alitame is unabsorbed and excreted in the feces. The remaining amount is hydrolyzed to aspartic acid and alanine amide. The aspartic acid is metabolized normally and the alanine amide excreted in the urine as a sulfoxide isomer, as the sulfone, or conjugated with glucuronic acid. The WHO has set an acceptable daily intake of alitame at up to 0.1 mg/kg body-weight.(4) LD50 (mouse, oral): >5 g/kg LD50 (rabbit, skin): >2 g/kg LD50 (rat, oral): >5 g/kg