Why Are People Worried About Sweetmyx?

Food Identity Theft, an organization that "alerts consumers about threats to the food we buy for ourselves and our families", doesn't believe that Sweetmyx is known to be safe. It looks towards Aspartame as "an object lesson in the dangers of allowing a chemical concoction to enter the market as a sweetening agent without our having a complete understanding of its effects and potential hazards".

The organization then goes on to warn that Sweetmyx isn't likely to be identified by name on very many ingredient lists, noting that it could just be listed as yet another artificial flavor or sweetener. They then point towards former food marketer Bruce Bradley, who is now a staunch "real food" advocate, for more information. 

So what does Bradley have to say about Sweetmyx? Some very interesting things, in fact:

• Sweetmyx "appears to be artificially synthesized from chemicals" rather than being natural. (Shouldn't the very fact that this isn't clear be worrying in itself?)
• The safety of Sweetmyx is entirely unknown at this point. Bradley was unable to obtain safety information from Senomyx, and safety testing results weren't available from others sources either. (Senomyx' website certainly doesn't give too much away.)
• Senomyx may believe it's doing a great thing by introducing products that allow us to reduce sugar consumption to the market, but it is not yet clear how this additive truly affects health. Instead of seeking to make foods known to be bad for human health healthier, Bradley believes, people should be encouraged to turn to real foods rather than highly processed foods. 

But Sweetmyx Is FDA-Approved, Isn't It?

Senomyx did release a statement claiming that Smeetmyx was "generally recognized as safe" in March 2014, appearing to suggest that Sweetmyx was now approved by the US Food and Drug Aministration. In the statement, the company said that the "new Sweetmyx flavor ingredient, previously referred to as S617, has been determined to be Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) under the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, administered by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)."

What did the FDA itself have to say about that? Let's take a look:

"In fact, the [FDA] had not made this determination nor had it been notified by Senomyx regarding a GRAS determination for this food ingredient. The company’s statement has been corrected and now notes that a third party organization made the determination."

READ Artificial Sweeteners Guilty For Child Diabetes?

In other words, Sweetmyx isn't FDA-approved at all. The goals Senomyx has certainly seem laudable, but the fact is that this is an additive we know surprisingly little about, and that may well be popping up in all kinds of beverages and processed food products now, without even being clearly identified on the label. Sweetmyx could turn out to be the additive that prevents people from dying of sugary-drink consumption. It could also turn out to be dangerous. Incidentally, the one step you can take to ensure you don't inadvertently end up consuming Sweetmyx is also one universally recognized to be good for health: stay away from highly-processed foods and instead rely on fresh ingredients.