Eduardo CesarSucralose: when heated to above 98ºC it produces potentially toxic compoundsEduardo Cesar
Sucralose—the most widely used artificial sweetener around the world—should not be used in recently brewed coffee or in cake dough prior to baking. Researchers from the University of Campinas (Unicamp) have confirmed that, starting at 98º Celsius, the molecules of the sweetener begin to undergo a chemical transformation and go on to form potentially toxic compounds that can accumulate in the body (Scientific Reports, April 15, 2016). At Unicamp, pharmaceutical chemist Rodrigo Catharino and his colleagues Diogo de Oliveira and Maico de Menezes heated samples of sucralose in a water bath as they used instruments to measure the compounds that emerged. Widely used by individuals and in the food and drug industries, sucralose has a chemical structure similar to that of sucrose—ordinary sugar. The molecules of both substances are formed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Sucralose also has three chlorine atoms, which increase its sweetening power and also make its structure easily modifiable.
Republish