No More Bitter Aftertaste From Artificial Sweeteners

A great way for dieters to reduce the number of calories they consume each day, is to swap regular drinks for the diet variety. However, diet drinks such as fizzy pop and squash are sweetened with artificial substitutes and many people cannot tolerate the slightly metallic aftertaste. But it looks like scientists have come up with a solution, having created a compound which banishes the bitter aftertaste of sugar substitutes.

The compound, GIV3616 or the ‘bitter blocker’, somehow masks the bitter aftertaste left behind after drinking artificially sweetened drinks, making them taste better. The findings were reported at the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) annual conference.

Researcher, Ioana Ungureanu, from the Givaudan Flavors Corporation, said “We’d like to be able to make their diets more enjoyable by masking the off-putting flavors of bitterness. Blocking these flavors we call off-notes could help consumers eat healthier and more varied diets. It could encourage them to switch to non-calorie soft drinks and help children and seniors swallow bitter-tasting medications.”

Although it wasn’t stated exactly when we could expect to see this miracle ingredient added to artificially flavoured food, it is certainly something to look forward to. Artificial sweeteners are found in so many products, including sugar free, low calorie, diet, fat free and low sugar food, drinks and medicines. A product such as this could especially benefit those who have a weight problem but don’t like the taste of artificially sweetened foods.