Brussels, 2nd April 2025: Responding to the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) statement on the WHO guideline on non-sugar sweeteners, the International Sweeteners Association (ISA) reconfirms low/no calorie sweeteners’ (LNCS) role in helping address the global obesity crisis.
While reviewing the WHO guideline on LNCS, SACN pointed to differences in the WHO methods and those used by SACN to evaluate the strength of scientific evidence, leading to different conclusions. While the WHO based its guideline on sweeteners on very low-quality observational data, SACN gives greater weight to higher quality randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that minimise the potential for bias and confounding factors. SACN also gave less weight to evidence from prospective cohort studies due to the potential for confounding and reverse causality in observational data.
As a result, SACN concludes that evidence from shorter and longer term RCTs consistently suggest that low/no calorie sweeteners, compared with free sugars, reduce energy intake and therefore body weight.
While SACN’s recommendations on LNCS are precautionary, SACN recommends that older children and adults swap sugars for LNCS to help reduce sugar intake from foods and drinks and in turn reduce energy intake, at least in the short term.
As part of an overall healthy diet and lifestyle, low/no calorie sweeteners can be used to further public health objectives on sugar intake reduction and ultimately assist in weight and diabetes management, as well as with dental health.
ISA supports SACN’s call for continued investment in high-quality, long-term research to further understand the real-world role of low/no calorie sweeteners in supporting public health goals.
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