Artificial sweeteners are added to a large range of food and drink products that we consume daily. They are also added to another product that many people use regularly – vapes. A relatively new artificial sweetener called neotame has been found in the top 11 disposable e-cigarette manufacturers, providing their flavors with their sweetness. Neotame is very similar to aspartame, only differing by a single molecule, yet it is 65 times sweeter. Astonishingly, it is somewhere between 7,000 and 13,000 times sweeter than table sugar!
The Study on E-Cigarette Artificial Sweeteners
While a recent study found neotame in the majority of top disposable vapes, it wasn’t detected in cartridge-based devices such as JUUL. However, these devices have their own dark pasts when it comes to dubious ingredients, with one 2019 study revealing that the added sucralose they used was associated with toxic aerosol production. The results for the study were published in early June 2025, in JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association). However, even if you don’t vape, you might be consuming it in your food and drinks.
Where Neotame Is Found
Neotame is added to many candies, gum, baked products, dairy desserts, yogurts, and fruit spreads. It is also used as an artificial sweetener in certain sparkling waters and beverages such as Tampico Mango Punch. Recently, several researchers have alerted of the dangers associated with neotame, including intestinal damage. They have also stated that the sweet flavors are meant to entice younger people to use them. So, if it is so prominent, why is it that most people haven’t heard of it before?
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Decades of Artificial Sweetener Consumption
Considering that it has been used for more than two decades now, you may actually have seen it on a label or two by now. It was first approved as a food additive by the FDA in 2002 and has no nutritional value or calories. However, neotame is not typically listed in the packaging of disposable e-cigarettes. For more than 40 years now, we have consumed artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, saccharin, acesulfame potassium, and aspartame. However, according to a professor at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England, Havovi Chichger, new additives such as neotame “herald the next generation of sweet additives.
The Use of Neotame as an Artificial Sweetener
Neotame was first developed in the 1990s by researchers who wanted to produce a more stable artificial sweetener for processed goods. However, its use is not limited to foodstuffs and can also be found in sweetened goods such as lip cosmetics. It is also used in the pharmaceutical industry to sweeten certain medications. According to NutraSweet Co.’s website, neotame can mask the taste of supplements, vitamins, bitter food ingredients, and active pharmaceuticals. Moreover, its high sweetness intensity allows formulation at very small quantities, leaving ample room for your pharmaceutical ingredients.”
Neotame Is Not Approved For Vaping
While neotame may have been approved by the FDA for use as an artificial sweetener in food and drinks, it has not been approved for products that are inhaled. E-cigarettes often heat the liquid up to temperatures as hot as 800 degrees fahrenheit, which can change the ingredients chemically. This can often cause the artificial sweeteners used in e-cigarette juices to lose their sweet flavor profile. The reason the use of neotame in vaping products has become so popular is because it doesn;t lose its sweetness at these high temperatures.
Read More: Doctor Gives Warning Effects of Vaping Even Without Nicotine
Why It is Used in Baking
It is due to this ability to remain stable at high temperatures that this artificial sweetener is commonly found in baking goods. According to the study’s senior author, Sven Jordt, PhD, “Sweeteners like aspartame or Ace K are basically burned at normal baking temperatures. However, with neotame, a large proportion survives baking and likely also survives being vaporized by e-cigarettes.” For Dr Jordt and his team, It is the sweet quality of neotame that makes these products particularly attractive to younger kids.
Neotame Is Not Used In All Products
Neotame was notably used in disposable e-cigareets that are currently illegal in the U.S, but still widely available. It was not found in the few legal e-cigarette brands. According to Dr Jordt, “We did this study specifically because this category of disposable e-cigarettes is seeing an explosive growth in sales and use.” These illegal products are usually available for a fraction of the price of legal brands and tend to have much higher nicotine concentrations.
The Bottom Line
As neotame discreetly makes its way into food and vape goods, questions about its safety continue to rise. While it has been permitted for use in foods for decades, its uncontrolled application in disposable e-cigarettes raises new health concerns, particularly because these products heat components to extremely high temperatures. Neotame’s ability to hold its sweetness under high heat makes it particularly tempting to manufacturers, but it may also be more dangerous to customers. This is particularly true for young people who prefer sweeter vape flavors. As research continues, scientists warn that increased knowledge, regulation, and transparency are required to fully comprehend the long-term repercussions of inhaling or swallowing this next-generation sweetener.
Read More: New Study Investigates Why Vaping Could Be More Dangerous Than Smoking
