Sixth Grade
Worksheets
Sugar Substitutes
So many people...so much sugar. Look around at what people are eating. Much of it includes sugar-coated breakfast cereals, soda, ice cream, and candy. As a result, while it may not be coming directly out of the sugar bowl, people are consuming a tremendous amount of sugar. In fact, the average American eats 22 teaspoons of added sugar a day from his food choices. The average teenager eats 34 teaspoons! This doesn't include the sugars found naturally in fruit or dairy products. Forty percent of the daily amount consumed is table sugar, sixty percent is corn sweetener used in sodas and other sweet drinks, and a minute amount is from things like honey.
When people eat all of that sugar, they are bound to gain weight from all the extra calories. Then many will decide to lose or maintain weight. However, they haven't lost their sweet tooth. That's where sugar substitutes, or artificial sweeteners, come in.
Sugar substitutes allow people to enjoy the taste of their favorite sweet foods but with fewer calories. Although the Food and Drug Administration is constantly evaluating new products, there are currently six sugar substitutes that are approved. They are saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame-K, sucralose, neotame, and stevia. More than one hundred forty million Americans use these all the time.
