New Delhi: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said it’s evaluating the new guideline issued last week by the World Health Organization (WHO) which said that non-sugar sweeteners like aspartame and stevia do not help in weight loss and can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

“Our scientific panel is examining and evaluating the WHO guideline in detail,” a spokesperson of the national foods regulator said in response to ET’s query.

Non-sugar sweeteners are used extensively by large Indian brands of soft drinks, breakfast cereals, ice-creams and juices as “healthy” alternatives to sugar.

Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kellogg and Dabur – which promote brands such as Coke Zero and Diet Coke, Pepsi Black, Special K and chyawanprash variant Chyawanprakash, respectively, as “low-calorie products”- declined to comment on the matter.

Executives said similar guidelines in India could significantly dent sales of such products, which straddle aerated drinks, ice-creams, cookies, chyawanprash and confectionery, besides artificial sweeteners such as Sugar Free, which are sold as healthier alternatives to sugar in cooking.

No Restrictions on Use Currently

“If the FSSAI makes any labelling change about mentioning warnings on products containing non-sugar sweeteners, it will definitely impact consumption of diet and no-sugar foods and drinks, as now consumers do read labels and contents regularly,” said RS Sodhi, president of the Indian Dairy Association, adviser to Reliance Retail and former managing director of dairy brand Amul.Health groups said the move is a “long-awaited one” and that educating consumers about the use of non-sugar sweeteners is crucial at a time when demand for such foods and beverages has been increasing amid increasing health consciousness.

Ashim Sanyal, chief operatingofficer of Consumer Voice, called on FSSAI to adopt the WHO recommendations and impose a “restrictive use only” formulation regulation on such products. “The myth has been busted about the benefits of artificial sweeteners which are extensively used as a body fitness formula,” said the head of the consumer rights group.

So far, the FSSAI has no such restrictions on the use of sweeteners in India. The development comes as the regulator is proposing to implement front-of-pack labelling on all packaged foods for salt, sugar and fat content.

Diet and no-sugar drinks and foods have been growing in double digits in India, amid a heavy marketing push by companies. Zydus Wellness, which makes Sugar Free, had said in previous interviews that the artificial sweetener brand has grown in double digits, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, as consumers increasingly cut sugar use.

The WHO, which called the guideline “conditional”, said it’s part of a suite of existing and forthcoming guidelines on healthy diets.

“Replacing free sugars with non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) does not help with weight control in the long term,” Francesco Branca, WHO director for nutrition and food safety, said in a detailed note released by the health organisation on May 15. “People need to consider other ways to reduce free sugars intake, such as consuming food with naturally occurring sugars, like fruit, or unsweetened food and beverages.”

NSS are not essential dietary factors and have no nutritional value, he said.

“People should reduce the sweetness of the diet altogether, starting early in life, to improve their health,” Branca said in the note, available on WHO’s website.

WHO said the recommendations are based on available evidence and include all synthetic and natural sweeteners such as aspartame, saccharin, sucralose and stevia.