{"id":12995,"date":"2023-03-10T13:11:56","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T18:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalfoodresearchprogram.org\/?p=12995"},"modified":"2025-02-11T15:32:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T20:32:07","slug":"after-chiles-labeling-and-marketing-law-drinks-contained-less-sugar-and-more-non-nutritive-sweeteners-but-overall-sweetness-stayed-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.globalfoodresearchprogram.org\/after-chiles-labeling-and-marketing-law-drinks-contained-less-sugar-and-more-non-nutritive-sweeteners-but-overall-sweetness-stayed-the-same\/","title":{"rendered":"After Chile\u2019s labeling and marketing law, drink purchases contained less sugar and more non-nutritive sweeteners, but overall sweetness stayed the same"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n

Two recent studies conducted by researchers from the Global Food Research Program at UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Chile have found that in the first phase of Chile\u2019s Law of Food Labeling and Advertising<\/a>, consumers\u2019 beverage purchases contained less sugar and more non-nutritive sweeteners (e.g., Aspartame, Stevia, or Sucralose), but overall beverage sweetness stayed the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The requirement under Chile\u2019s law for products high in calories or added sugar, salt, saturated fat to carry a front-of-package warning label has prompted the food and beverage industry to reformulate and introduce new products in order to avoid regulation. For example, companies have reduced the amount of added sugars in drinks to fall below the law\u2019s sugar threshold, while replacing some of that sugar with non-nutritive sweeteners to maintain a similar taste. One study found that the share of beverages in Chile containing non-nutritive sweeteners increased by more than 10%<\/a> after the law came into effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taste test: beverage sweetness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a study published in Frontiers in Nutrition<\/em><\/a> in October 2022, researchers found that Chile\u2019s policies were not associated with changes in overall sweetness taste of the beverages consumers bought, despite evidence of product reformulation to contain less sugars and more non-nutritive sweeteners (which can taste 10\u201320,000 times sweeter than sugars).<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Natalia
Natalia Rebolledo, PhD, first author and UNC-Chapel Hill and Global Food Research Program alum<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cWe wanted to look at overall change in sweetness to understand what consumers were being exposed to, as a result of reformulation,\u201d said Natalia Rebolledo<\/a>, postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Research in Food Environments and Prevention of Nutrition-Related Chronic Diseases (CIAPEC) at the University of Chile and the study\u2019s first author. \u201cWe focused on beverages because they are the main dietary source of added sugars and non-nutritive sweeteners in the Chilean diet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this study, researchers analyzed the weekly grocery purchases of over 2,000 households before and after the labeling law began and evaluated the total sweetness of purchases. They did this by creating a \u201csweetness index\u201d to measure and compare levels of non-nutritive sweeteners, total sugars, and total combined sweetness in each beverage purchased, taking into account the unique levels of sweetness tastes from non-nutritive sweeteners and sugars. The team used data from the Chilean Nutritional Facts Panel, which provided the actual amounts of total sugars and non-nutritive sweeteners included in the drinks purchased by study households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key findings during Phase 1 of the law:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n