Sucralose is an artificial sweetening agent, or a sugar substitute. This product is produced by
chlorination of sucrose. Just like sugar and all other kinds of sucrose, sucralose cannot be broken down by the body so it is considered to be non-caloric. It is still 320-1000 times sweeter than sucrose.
Sucralose is manufactured by the selective chlorination of sucrose in a multistep synthesis,
which substitutes three of the hydroxyl groups of sucrose with chlorine atoms. This chlorination is achieved by selective protection of a primary alcohol group, followed by chlorination of the partially acetylated sugar with excess chlorinating agent, and then by removal of the acetyl groups to give the desired sucralose product.
Sucralose was first approved for use in Canada in 1991. Subsequent approvals came in Australia in 1993, in New Zealand in 1996, in the United States in 1998, and in the European Union in 2004. By 2008, it had been approved in over 80 countries, including Mexico, Brazil, China, India, and Japan.In 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration amended the regulations for foods to include sucralose as a "non-nutritive sweetener" in food. In May 2008, Fusion Nutraceuticals launched a generic product to the market, using Tate & Lyle patents.
>50% Tate and Lyle United Kingdom HYET Sweet European Union Newtrend Group China Ingredient Specialties Inc. Asian Countries (conglomerate) <10% JK Sucralose Inc. United States Kanbo International Japan L&P Food Ingredient Co., Ltd. China Nantong Changhai Food China Additive Co. Ltd.
Figure 1 Figure 1 shows the companies involved in sucralose production. Some of the companies like Ingredient Specialties Inc. are a wide conglomerate that spread across different countries. Tate and Lyle are the biggest producers in sucralose, they were also the ones to pioneer the product.
Figure 2.
Figure 2 shows the global index of sucralose, the leading countries that produce it and it’s worth on the global trade market.
