Washington, DC, Nov. 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As global health authorities have offered conflicting guidance on low- and no-calorie sweeteners (LNCS) in recent years, a new survey from the International Food Information Council (IFIC) reveals evolving American attitudes. The IFIC Spotlight Survey: American Perceptions of Sweeteners in Foods and Beverages, conducted in April 2024, highlights current preferences, awareness, and sentiments toward caloric and non-caloric sweeteners, sugar alcohols, and rare sugars such as allulose.
“This IFIC Spotlight Survey is unique as it serves to follow up on surveys we previously conducted in 2023 and 2021,” explains IFIC President & CEO Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RDN. “Since we last surveyed Americans on sweeteners in April 2023, there have been significant updates to low- and no-calorie sweetener dietary guidance outside the U.S., potentially impacting American consumer attitudes and preferences.”
In May and July 2023, scientific evaluations of low- and no-calorie sweeteners (LNCS) from three bodies within the World Health Organization (WHO) were released by the Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the WHO/FAO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives.
“These reports received global media attention for their conflicting results and ensuing mixed messages,” Reinhardt Kapsak said. “Not only did we want to deepen our insights with this recent survey, but we wanted to see if these European evaluations moved the needle on American perceptions and behaviors, and if so, how.”
American Sweetener Shake-Up Or Consumer Sentiments Settled?
According to the IFIC survey, one-third of Americans (33%) reported changing their LNCS consumption habit between April 2023 and April 2024. While 10% said they increased LNCS consumption and 6% said they started consuming LNCS, 11% said they decreased LNCS consumption and 6% said they stopped consuming LNCS altogether. Another 34% reported making no changes to their LNCS consumption, and 30% reported not consuming LNCS at all in the twelve months before taking this survey.
Among those who reduced or stopped LNCS use, 36% cited dietary shifts, and 31% mentioned concerns over safety. For those who increased or started LNCS use, 29% were motivated by weight management goals, while 21% heard they are safe to consume.
“Americans are looking for clarity in health guidance to make more thoughtful, informed choices about what they eat and drink, including sweeteners,” said Kris Sollid, RD, Senior Director of Research & Consumer Insights at IFIC. “Results from our study suggest that the guidance updates that came out of Europe in 2023 had little, if any, net effect on American low- and no-calorie sweetener consumption habits.”
Preference For Caloric & “Natural” Sweeteners Prevails
Survey findings reveal a strong preference for consuming caloric sweeteners over other types of sweeteners. Honey leads the pack with a rating of 7.3 out of 10 (likelihood to consume), followed by brown sugar (6.6). Among LNCS, stevia ranked highest with a 4.8 rating, followed by monk fruit (4.3). Awareness of allulose remains low, with just 13% of Americans saying they have heard of it.
“Not surprisingly, ‘natural’ sweeteners like honey and stevia remain popular with consumers,” Sollid said. “Since we began capturing these sentiments, honey is the caloric sweetener that consumers say they are most likely to consume, and stevia leads the way among low- and no-calorie sweetener options. Overall, we continue to see the trend of Americans preferring to consume food and beverages with caloric sweeteners more than those with low- and no-calorie sweeteners, sugar alcohols, or allulose.”
Many Consumers Report Doing Their Own Research On Sweetener Safety
When it comes to how Americans inform their opinions of LNCS safety, 42% say they do their own research, and 31% talk to health professionals. While the IFIC Food & Health Survey has shown that perceptions of safety are low for some types of LNCS, more than half of the participants in this survey (56%) agree that consuming LNCS can benefit some people’s health, with 25% strongly agreeing.
“This finding is fascinating,” Sollid said. “In the 2024 IFIC Food & Health Survey, consumers ranked personal healthcare professionals and registered dietitians as the top sources of trusted information when it comes to what to eat and what to avoid. The fact that more consumers in this survey rely on doing their own research about LNCS safety than talking to credentialled health professionals is noteworthy.”
Additionally, the labeling of sweeteners has been a focus since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revised the Nutrition Facts label in 2016 to require a new line for added sugars. However, LNCS are not required to be displayed on the Nutrition Facts label but are required in the list of ingredients. To determine if a packaged food or beverage contains LNCS, most Americans say they would consult the ingredients list (49%) and the Nutrition Facts label (42%). Two in ten would look for specific words (20%) or phrases (19%) on the front of food and beverage packaging, while fewer than one in ten (6%) Americans say they do not look closely enough for this type of information on food packaging.
Bridging The Low- & No-Calorie Sweetener Information Gap To Assist Americans In Sugar Reduction
“Sugar reduction remains a top public health priority. However, the way we communicate about caloric and non-caloric sweeteners does not have to be an either/or proposition,” Reinhardt Kapsak explained. “Last month’s IFIC Spotlight Survey: Americans’ Trust in Food & Nutrition Science, illuminated an alarming public perception: 8 in 10 Americans believe that recommendations about what to eat and drink are always changing. This belief is in direct contrast to dietary guidance on topics like added sugar that has remained consistent for four-plus decades.”
Reinhardt Kapsak added, “This discrepancy between public perception and reality highlights the importance of unified, consistent, evidence-based messaging, and emphasizes the need for organizations like IFIC whose mission is to effectively communicate about food and nutrition science."
Read the full survey here.
Research Methodology
The International Food Information Council (IFIC) commissioned an online survey among U.S. consumers to gauge perceptions, preferences, and recent consumption patterns of sweeteners in foods and beverages. Data was collected from April 5-9, 2024, via an online survey of 1,000 Americans aged 18 years to 80+ years, and responses were weighted to ensure proportional results. The Bayesian confidence level for the survey sample (n=1000) is 3.5, which is roughly equivalent to a margin of error of ±3.1 at the 95% confidence level.
