EFSA reaffirms the safety of Neotame

ISA welcomes the new EFSA scientific opinion on Neotame

Brussels, 4th July 2025: The International Sweeteners Association (ISA) welcomes the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) opinion, published today, which unequivocally confirms that neotame is rigorously assessed and safe for use in foods and beverages.1 Neotame is one of the 11 low/no calorie sweeteners approved for use in foods and drinks in the European Union.

In accordance with European regulations, EFSA was asked by the European Commission to undertake a re-evaluation of all food additives permitted for use in the EU before January 2009. Neotame, which was first approved in 2007, was included in the re-evaluation.

EFSA’s scientific experts assessed the totality of the available scientific evidence – including toxicological, epidemiological and consumption data – and concluded that neotame is scientifically proven safe. They also increased its Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) to 10 mg/kg body weight/day. This reconfirms results of previous, comprehensive evaluations conducted by the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)2, and other regulatory authorities around the world.

At a time when obesity and non-communicable diseases including diabetes and dental diseases remain major global health challenges, and in light of current public health recommendations to reduce overall sugar intake, low/no calorie sweeteners can be helpful in creating healthier food environments. They offer a wide choice of sweet-tasting options with low or no calories and can be a useful tool – when used in place of sugar and as part of a balanced diet – in helping reduce overall sugar and calorie intake.3 They can also support the management of  blood glucose levels, especially for people living with diabetes.4 Low/no calorie sweeteners are also not fermentable by oral bacteria, this means that they do not contribute to tooth demineralisation, which is one of the causes of tooth decay.5

  1. https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9480
  2. https://apps.who.int/food-additives-contaminants-jecfa-database/Home/Chemical/5107 
  3. Rogers PJ and Appleton KM. The effects of low-calorie sweeteners on energy intake and body weight: a systematic review and meta-analyses of sustained intervention studies. Int J Obes (Lond) 2021;45(3):464-478. doi:10.1038/s41366-020-00704-2. Epub 2020 Nov 9.
  4. Diabetes UK. The use of low or no calorie sweeteners. Position Statement (Updated December 2018). Available at: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/professionals/position-statements-reports/food-nutrition-lifestyle/use-of-low-or-no-calorie-sweetners
  5. EFSA Scientific opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to intense sweeteners. EFSA 2011 Journal 9(6): 2229, and 9(4): 2076.
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly necessary cookies

This option should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that each time you visit this site, you will have to enable or disable cookies again.

Third party cookies

This site uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us improve our website.