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Why are bulking agents needed in foods made with nonnutritive sweeteners?

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A woman reads the nutrition labels on two brightly colored boxes of cereal. — food additive Labels provide information on a food product's ingredients and nutritional value.

Bulking agents are necessary in foods formulated with nonnutritive sweeteners because, unlike nutritive sweeteners such as sucrose, nonnutritive sweeteners are used in very low concentrations due to their intense sweetening power.12

While sugar provides essential functional properties beyond just sweetness—such as contributing to the viscosity, texture, mouthfeel, and structural integrity of a product—nonnutritive sweeteners do not offer these physical characteristics. Consequently, manufacturers must incorporate bulking agents, such as polydextrose, to replace the volume and functional qualities that are lost when sugar is removed from a recipe.12