Researchers suggest erythritol should be re-evaluated as a food additive
Long term use of erythritol, a commonly used sweetener can predispose users to blood clots, a new study has found. Erythritol is a commonly used food additive and sugar substitute.
US researchers have reported in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology about the link they found in healthy volunteers and suggested that erythritol should be reevaluated as a food additive. “Ingestion of a typical quantity of the non-nutritive sweetener erythritol, but not glucose, enhances platelet reactivity in healthy volunteers, raising concerns that erythritol consumption may enhance thrombosis potential. Combined with recent large-scale clinical observational studies and mechanistic cell-based and animal model studies, the present findings suggest that discussion of whether erythritol should be reevaluated as a food additive with the Generally Recognized as Safe designation is warranted,” they wrote.
Erythritol is one of the commonest artificial sweeteners and is very frequently used in food items that are sold with the branding that they are safe for diabetics or people trying to lose weight. It is said to have zero calories in one gram while having the sweetening properties associated with sugar.
The authors pointed out that although artificial and non-nutritive sweeteners are widely used and generally recognized as safe by the US and European Union regulatory agencies, there have been no clinical trials to assess either long-term cardiovascular disease risks or short-term cardiovascular disease–relevant phenotypes. Food items using artificial sweeteners are also gaining in popularity in India.
