As global health authorities have offered conflicting guidance on low- and no-calorie sweeteners (LNCS) in recent years, a new survey from the International Food Information Council (IFIC) reveals evolving American attitudes. The IFIC Spotlight Survey: American Perceptions of Sweeteners in Foods and Beverages, conducted in April 2024, highlights current preferences, awareness, and sentiments toward caloric and non-caloric sweeteners, sugar alcohols, and rare sugars such as allulose.
“This IFIC Spotlight Survey is unique as it serves to follow up on surveys we previously conducted in 2023 and 2021. Since we last surveyed Americans on sweeteners in April 2023, there have been significant updates to low- and no-calorie sweetener dietary guidance outside the US, potentially impacting American consumer attitudes and preferences.”
-- Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RDN, president & CEO, IFIC
In May and July 2023, scientific evaluations of low- and no-calorie sweeteners (LNCS) from three bodies within the World Health Organization (WHO) were released by the Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the WHO/FAO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives.
“These reports received global media attention for their conflicting results and ensuing mixed messages,” said Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RDN, IFIC president & CEO . “Not only did we want to deepen our insights with this recent survey, but we wanted to see if these European evaluations moved the needle on American perceptions and behaviors, and if so, how.”
According to the IFIC survey, one-third of Americans (33%) reported changing their LNCS consumption habit between April 2023 and April 2024. While 10% said they increased LNCS consumption and 6% said they started consuming LNCS, 11% said they decreased LNCS consumption and 6% said they stopped consuming LNCS altogether. Another 34% reported making no changes to their LNCS consumption, and 30% reported not consuming LNCS at all in the twelve months before taking this survey.
Among those who reduced or stopped LNCS use, 36% cited dietary shifts, and 31% mentioned concerns over safety. For those who increased or started LNCS use, 29% were motivated by weight management goals, while 21% heard they are safe to consume.
“Americans are looking for clarity in health guidance to make more thoughtful, informed choices about what they eat and drink, including sweeteners,” said Kris Sollid, RD, senior director of research & consumer insights at IFIC. “Results from our study suggest that the guidance updates that came out of Europe in 2023 had little, if any, net effect on American low- and no-calorie sweetener consumption habits.”
Survey findings reveal a strong preference for consuming caloric sweeteners over other types of sweeteners. Honey leads the pack with a rating of 7.3 out of 10 (likelihood to consume), followed by brown sugar (6.6). Among LNCS, stevia ranked highest with a 4.8 rating, followed by monk fruit (4.3). Awareness of allulose remains low, with just 13% of Americans saying they have heard of it.
“Not surprisingly, ‘natural’ sweeteners like honey and stevia remain popular with consumers,” Sollid said. “Since we began capturing these sentiments, honey is the caloric sweetener that consumers say they are most likely to consume, and stevia leads the way among low- and no-calorie sweetener options. Overall, we continue to see the trend of Americans preferring to consume food and beverages with caloric sweeteners more than those with low- and no-calorie sweeteners, sugar alcohols, or allulose.”
When it comes to how Americans inform their opinions of LNCS safety, 42% say they do their own research, and 31% talk to health professionals. While the IFIC Food & Health Survey has shown that perceptions of safety are low for some types of LNCS, more than half of the participants in this survey (56%) agree that consuming LNCS can benefit some people’s health, with 25% strongly agreeing.
“This finding is fascinating,” Sollid said. “In the 2024 IFIC Food & Health Survey, consumers ranked personal healthcare professionals and registered dietitians as the top sources of trusted information when it comes to what to eat and what to avoid. The fact that more consumers in this survey rely on doing their own research about LNCS safety than talking to credentialled health professionals is noteworthy.”
Additionally, the labeling of sweeteners has been a focus since the US Food and Drug Administration revised the Nutrition Facts label in 2016 to require a new line for added sugars. However, LNCS are not required to be displayed on the Nutrition Facts label but are required in the list of ingredients. To determine if a packaged food or beverage contains LNCS, most Americans say they would consult the ingredients list (49%) and the Nutrition Facts label (42%). Two in ten would look for specific words (20%) or phrases (19%) on the front of food and beverage packaging, while fewer than one in ten (6%) Americans say they do not look closely enough for this type of information on food packaging.
