Determination of acesulfam-K in foods

A liquid chromatographic method was evaluated for the determination of the intense sweetener acesulfam-K in tabletop sweetener, candy, soft drink, fruit juice, fruit nectar, yogurt, cream, custard, chocolate, and biscuit commercial preparations. Samples are extracted or simply diluted with water and filtered. Complex matrixes need a clarification step with Carrez solutions. An aliquot of the extract is analyzed on a reversed-phase mu Bondapak C18 column using 0.0125M KH2PO4 (pH 3.5)-acetonitrile (90 + 10) as mobile phase. Detection is performed by UV absorbance at 220 nm. Recoveries ranged from 95.2 to 106.8%. With one exception, all analyzed values were within +/- 15% of the declared levels. The repeatabilities and the repeatability coefficients of variation were, respectively, 0.37 mg/100 g and 0.98% for products containing less than 40 mg/100 g acesulfam-K and 2.43 mg/100 g and 1.29% for other products. The same procedure also allowed detection of many food additives or natural constituents, such as other intense sweeteners, organic acids, and alkaloids, in a single run without interfering with acesulfam-K. The method is simple, rapid, precise, and sensitive; therefore, it is suitable for routine analyses.