Sugar substitutes and sweeteners in the U.S. - statistics & facts

Caloric sweeteners

The United States is well known for its corn sweeteners. Per-capita consumption of corn sweeteners in the country came to almost 53 pounds. High fructose corn syrup consumption accounted for about two-thirds of the total per capita consumption. It is by far the most well-known corn sweetener. And while fructose or fruit sugar contains the same calorie content as sucrose, its chemical makeup differs from common sugar and it is generally thought to be healthier. Other corn sweeteners contain sugars such as glucose or dextrose. Annually, over 8,600 short tons of corn sweetener is used in food and beverages in the U.S. However, both per capita consumption and use of corn sweeteners in food manufacturing is seeing a downward trend. Other additions to the group of caloric sweeteners are artificially created sugars such as Allulose. These sugars may have much fewer calories than common table sugar.

Non-caloric sweeteners

At the end of the 19th century, the first artificial sweetener was invented that had no caloric content. Saccharin stands at the beginning of a long list of artificial sweeteners that boast no or low caloric content. Even some artificial sugars, such as Sucralose, may have no caloric content. The U.S. market for artificial sweeteners is closing in on a value of 600 million U.S. dollars, which it is predicted to exceed in 2022. While the majority of non-caloric sweeteners are artificial, sweeteners that occur in nature and have no calories exist, such as Stevia. When it comes to actual food manufacturing, different sweeteners get mixed often with others to produce a wide variety of tastes, sweetness, and calorie content.

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