What Is Ace-K? Diet Coke Ingredient 200 Times Sweeter Than Sugar

Acesulfame potassium or Ace-K is the new added ingredient in the latest Diet Coke products that hit the market in mid-January.

Coca-Cola is introducing new Diet Coke flavors such as ginger lime, feisty cherry, twisted mango, and zesty blood orange — all of which will contain the synthetic sweetener.

Ace-K is a sugar-free sweetener that is 200 times sweeter than sugar and has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is deemed healthier than natural or artificial sugar available in the market as the human digestive system cannot break it down or store it inside the body. According to a News-Medical report, this sweetener, after its consumption, gets rapidly absorbed and excreted by the body.

“It’s a sleeper that no one pays attention to,” Michael Jacobson, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told Fortune earlier this year. “I don’t think either side can say definitively it’s safe or dangerous,” he added.

Some of the products that contain this sweetener include table-top sugar substitutes, dairy products, chewing gum, jam, frozen desserts, baked goods, cola, and fizzy drinks. Also, since it can retain its sweetness at extremely high temperatures, it is often used in baking products.

After being discovered in 1967 by a German pharmaceutical company named Hoechst AG and approved for usage in food and beverages in 1983, Ace-K has been used by nearly 100 countries across the world.

The U.S. Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) had raised a concern about cancer risk due to the consumption of Ace-K in 2000. However, the FDA and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) disregarded the claims after a legislative committee named Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) reevaluated the studies conducted on the sweetener and its possible links to cancer. They finally concluded that Ace-K did not pose any carcinogenicity threats.

Meanwhile, separate studies were also conducted to determine whether Ace-K causes diabetes and dental cavities. It was found that the sweetener does not influence the levels of insulin secretion and blood glucose when consumed within the recommended limit (15 mg per kg or per 2.2 pounds of body weight). However, the exact year when the study was conducted remains unknown.

The News-Medical report also states that Ace-K does affect gut microbiome which controls body weight and regulation of glucose level in the blood. The knowledge of its toxicity is, however, not known.

Meanwhile, Rafael Acevedo, North America’s group director for Diet Coke said that this was the first time they had considered using another variety of sweetener in their product. For years, Coca-Cola had been using aspartame in Diet Coke which gave it a very crisp taste.

However, when the company tested out their new flavors among a group of millennials, it found that the latest products tasted a bit sourer than the original Diet Coke. In order to mask that sourness, Ace-K was added to the products.

Coca-Cola is not just introducing new flavors, but it is also revamping the packaging of its soft drinks. The new flavors will be sold in taller and more slender cans.

The new flavors are set to be introduced into the market amid declining sales of the company, as an increasing number of consumers are moving away from choosing artificial sweeteners and instead opting for naturally found sugars or products that have lesser sugar content in general.

Coca-Cola, however, remains positive that the addition of Ace-K is not going to affect the appeal of the new Diet Coke flavors in any way. “They are open to the category,” Acevedo says. “We feel very comfortable this sweetener mix is going to connect with them.”