Knowledge and Perceptions of Non-Nutritive Sweeteners Within the UK Adult Population

Farhat, Grace and Dewison, Fleur and Stevenson, Leo (2021) Knowledge and Perceptions of Non-Nutritive Sweeteners Within the UK Adult Population. Nutrients, 13 (2). ISSN 2072-6643

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Abstract

Non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) are popular sugar substitutes that can help in weight and diabetes management, but concerns regarding their use have been raised by the public. This study aimed to investigate knowledge, benefits and safety perceptions of NNS in a sample of UK adults. The impact of knowledge dissemination on the change in perceptions was also examined. An online survey was distributed through social media platforms and UK Universities and was completed by 1589 participants aged 18 years and above. Results showed a high-risk perception of NNS and a lack of knowledge in regulations in nearly half the population sample. The artificial attributes of NNS further limited their acceptance. Risk perception has been significantly linked to a lower con-sumption of sweeteners (p < 0.001) and was affected by gender, occupation, education levels, age and body weight status. Information dissemination significantly reduced risk perception and increased awareness of the benefits of NNS. Results suggest that developing effective communi-cation strategies to educate consumers, potentially through trusted health government agencies and professional bodies, can help them to make informed choices. Education of health profes-sionals could also be valuable in reassuring the public of the benefits of NNS.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Human and Digital Sciences > School of Health and Sport Sciences
Depositing User:	Grace Farhat
Date Deposited:	02 Feb 2021 09:35
Last Modified:	23 May 2022 09:15
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/3239

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