Declaration of Sweeteners on Food Labels: A Scoping Review of Methodological Issues and Prevalence

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently published a guideline that recommends against the use of nonsugar sweeteners. Food labels are a key source of information for consumers, to enable them to make informed decisions regarding the consumption of food additives. However, discrepancies in the concepts and categorizations of sweeteners in labeling recommendations and regulations may influence the results of studies on the prevalence of sweeteners in foods. This study aimed to analyze the scientific literature related to the declaration of sweeteners on food labels. Focus was placed on methodological issues related to data collection and analysis, including the categorization of sweeteners, as well as on the reported prevalence of sweetener declaration on food labels. A scoping review was conducted based on a search for terms related to sweeteners, food labeling, and packaged foods. Nine studies, published between 2012 and 2022, were included. Variability among studies was observed in terms of data collection methods, approaches for identifying the sweeteners declared on food labels, the criteria for categorizing sweeteners, and the definitions underlying the categorization. Moreover, there was a lack of standardization in the bibliographic sources consulted in formulating the categorization, and failure to report specific sources, leading to heterogeneity in the substances regarded as sweeteners. The prevalence of the declaration of sweeteners in food labeling ranged from less than 1% to 43.6%. The findings of the present work emphasize the need to standardize the methodologies used for the identification of sweeteners declared on food labels and the criteria for their categorization.