Aspartame is produced from L-phenylalanine and extremely popular low calorie peptide used as a sweetener in many countries.
Chemically aspartame is L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester.
The taste profile of aspartame is similar to sucrose sweetness. The maximum use level in soft drinks within the European Union is 600 mg/L, which means that, it can be used as the sole sweetener in soft drinks.
Although it is caloric (4 Kcal/g), its sweetness relative to sucrose (180-200) makes it an attractive very low calorie sweetener.
Aspartame is the key ingredient found in artificial sweeteners such as NutraSweet and Equal and is used to sweeten diet drinks such as Diet Coke and diet Pepsi along with laterally hundreds of other products.
The use of this sweetener was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1981 after extensive testing, although there is still considerable controversy about its safety.
Aspartame
