Category: sweetener
Aliases: Ace-K, Acesulfame K, E950, Sunett, Sweet One, Potassium acesulfame, ACK, Acesulphame potassium
Acesulfame potassium is the potassium salt of 6-methyl-1,2,3-oxathiazin-4(3H)-one 2,2-dioxide, an oxathiazinone-dioxide non-nutritive sweetener roughly 200x as sweet as sucrose. The acesulfame anion activates the heterodimeric sweet-taste receptor (TAS1R2/TAS1R3) on lingual type II taste cells, triggering gustducin-coupled PLCβ2 signalling and gut enteroendocrine sweet-sensing; it carries a slightly bitter off-taste at high concentration, often masked by blending with sucralose or aspartame. Unlike caloric sugars such as glucose and fructose, it provides no metabolizable energy and does not raise blood glucose or stimulate insulin meaningfully. It is rapidly and essentially completely absorbed in the gut but is not metabolized — no CYP, conjugation, or hydrolytic transformation occurs — and is excreted unchanged in urine. Heat- and pH-stable, it is widely used in baked and beverage applications.
E950; about 200x sweeter than sucrose; JECFA/EFSA ADI 15 mg/kg bw/day (FDA ADI 15 mg/kg/day, GRAS/approved as general-purpose sweetener). Non-caloric and not metabolized — excreted unchanged. Contributes a small amount of dietary potassium; bitter aftertaste at high levels is typically masked by blending with other sweeteners.