Consumption of non-caloric sweeteners among pregnant Chileans: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: consumption of non-caloric sweeteners (NCS) has increased worldwide in the last 35 years. Objective: to determine the consumption of NCS among pregnant Chilean women and measure if consumption exceeded the acceptable daily intake. Methods: we conducted a cross-sectional study of pregnant women from the two main cities in Chile. Women were interviewed to determine the consumption of NCS and socioeconomic level; anthropometry was measured. Results: six hundred and one pregnant women were interviewed; 98% of pregnant women surveyed consumed NCS. The most consumed sweetener was sucralose (95.6%), followed by acesulfame k (80.6%), stevia (78.3%), aspartame (75.1%), saccharin (14.8%), and cyclamate (10%). We observed that consumption closest to the acceptable daily intake was reported for stevia (82.5%), followed by acesulfame k (44%). However, except stevia, which reached 12%, average values were under 5% of the acceptable daily intake. No pregnant woman in the sample exceeded the acceptable daily intake and there were no differences in sweetener consumption by trimester of pregnancy or by socioeconomic level. Conclusions: a high prevalence of NCS consumption was observed, however, none of the pregnant women exceeded the acceptable daily intake.