Cutting kids cyclamate consumption
Agency (FSA) this week advised parents to give no more than three
beakers (approximately 180ml each) per day of dilutable soft drinks
or squashes containing the sweetener cyclamate, also known as E952,
to young children.
Following the results of a recent survey, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) this week advised parents to give no more than three beakers (approximately 180ml each) per day of dilutable soft drinks or squashes containing the sweetener cyclamate, also known as E952, to young children.
The FSA survey of soft drinks consumed by young children, published yesterday, showed that they drink three times as many dilutable soft drinks per day than any other type of soft drink containing additives, such as carbonated drinks.
The FSA introduced the recommendation as a precautionary measure, claiming that drinking more than three beackers a day could result in children aged one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half being above the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for cyclamate, a safety level recommended by independent scientific experts.
At the same time, the FSA recommended that when preparing dilutable soft drinks containing cyclamate for young children, parents should dilute them more than they would for an adult.
The move reflects FSA concerns over the consumption of large amounts of cyclamate that have led the agency to press the European Commission, other Member States and soft drinks manufacturers to reduce the maximum permitted level of cyclamate used in all soft drinks. The FSA maintains that this could ensure that even young children who drink large amounts of dilutable soft drinks will not exceed the ADI for cyclamate.
The survey and subsequent calculations by the agency indicate that even though manufacturers have not exceeded the maximum permitted level of cyclamate in their soft drink formulation, when drinking large amounts (five or more beakers) of dilutable soft drinks containing cyclamate per day, young children could be consuming up to twice the ADI for this sweetener. When drinking average amounts (one or two beakers), young children will be below the ADI for cyclamate.
The ADI for cyclamate is based on studies which showed slight testicular damage in rats. But experts also concluded that other studies showed no effects in humans. However, writes the agency, some uncertainty over possible effects in humans remains leading it to adopt the precautionary approach.
Young children drinking large amounts of dilutable soft drinks containing aspartame, acesulfame K, or saccharin would not be above the ADI for these sweeteners, the FSA stressed.
