Just a quick post to share something I read about non-sugar sweeteners (NSS). This is more of an alert than a warning, because it stems more from a lack of research than a known hazard.
The article is about sucralose (Splenda) and aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) specifically, but the alert may apply to other NSS as well. It cautions against cooking or baking with these NSS because they can become unstable at high temperatures and it’s not clear whether high heat makes them unsafe to eat:
The European Union banned the use of all artificial sweeteners in commercially prepared baked goods on February 13, 2018 (10).
This is because some sweeteners like sucralose and aspartame — or Splenda and NutraSweet — may be chemically unstable at higher temperatures, and their safety at these temperatures is less researched (30).
Therefore, you should avoid using aspartame and sucralose for baking or high-temperature cooking.
Don’t stress out, “high temperature cooking” means 400° and higher, and few dishes require that much heat. (If you do have recipes that call for high heat, try turning the heat down to 375° and lengthening the cooking time.) Besides, these and other NSS have been available for a long time, and many people have cooked and baked with them without reporting adverse health effects.
However, if you have systemic or chronic health issues, it would be prudent to avoid high-temp cooking and baking with NSS.
Be well, everyone!