COMPARISON OF BENZOATE AND SACCHARIN CONTENTS IN NATURAL SWEETENER PRODUCTS LIQUID STEVIA AND LIQUID SUGAR

Abstract

For several decades and in some cases, sugar has been proven to have harmful relationships with various health factors such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hyperuricemia, gout, ectopic fat accumulation, dental caries, and certain cancers. Therefore, the market tends to seek safer alternative sweeteners as substitutes for sugar, such as artificial sweeteners like saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, stevia, and others. Food products are often preserved to extend their shelf life; for liquid or paste food products, the preservative commonly used is sodium benzoate. A study was conducted to determine the levels of saccharin and benzoate in liquid stevia and liquid sugar products to identify the presence of saccharin and benzoate in these food products. The research was carried out using three samples each of liquid stevia and liquid sugar available on the market (online). The average benzoate content range in stevia samples was 0,0348–0,1548%, and in liquid sugar samples 0,0074–0,1128%. The saccharin content range in stevia samples was 11.3694–15.3773%, and in liquid sugar samples 3,4546–1,.0634%. When compared with the maximum limits set by the Ministry of Health, BPOM, and SNI—where the maximum benzoate is 0,1% and maximum saccharin is 0,03% it can be concluded that the average benzoate level in liquid stevia (0,0980%) is higher than in liquid sugar (0,0610%), while the average saccharin level in liquid stevia (13,1628%) is also higher than in liquid sugar (7,3722%). This study indicates the addition of preservatives and artificial sweeteners in the samples beyond the permissible maximum limits, proving that the liquid stevia preparation is not 100% a natural sweetener. Further research with different samples and methods is recommended.