One of the recent food additive directives of the European Parliament include the general obligation for the Member States to monitor the "usage and consumption of sweeteners used in foodstuff" (94/35/EC 30.6.94). Intense sweeteners are present in few well identified categories of foods (sugar free products) but may also be ingested as table top. This paper describes the results of a consumer survey conducted in Italy.

Its purpose was to estimate the risk of exceeding the ADI in a population group likely to have an above average consumption of foods that are currently available in a sugar free version (soft drinks, candies and chewing gums).

The intake of saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame K and cyclamate was assessed in 212 teenagers aged 13 to 19 on the basis of dietary records (14 consecutive days). The sweetener content of sugar free products was provided by manufacturers.

Sugar free products were consumed by 77% of the subjects. Mean daily intake among consumers was 0.24 mg/kg bw for cyclamate, 0.21 mg/kg bw for saccharin, 0.03 mg /kg bw for aspartame, and 0.02 mg/kg bw for acesulfame K.

No subject exceeded the ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake) of an intense sweetener. Projections suggest that approaching the ADI could be possible only if subjects with high intakes of both soft drinks and table top sugar substituted these items with respectively sugar free beverages and table top sweeteners containing either saccharin or cyclamate. Risk of exceeding the ADI for intense sweeteners in Italy is low compared with that of other European countries with differing food consumption patterns.