Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42280291›Full record

ReviewNutrients2026

Effects of Non-Nutritive Sweeteners and Sweet Taste Exposure on Weight Management, Biomarkers of Health and Sweet Taste Preference-A Review of the Evidence from Recent European Consortia Studies.

Eva Marija Čad, Katherine M Appleton, Ellen E Blaak, Clarissa Dakin, Kees de Graaf, Graham Finlayson, Ciarán G Forde, Jason C G Halford, Louise Kjølbæk, Monica Mars and 5 more

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Nutrients, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Eva Marija ČadDepartment of Food Science and Technology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.ORCID 0000-0001-5681-8627
Katherine M AppletonDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Poole BH12 5BB, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7045-3564
Ellen E BlaakDepartment of Human Biology, Maastricht University Medical Center, 6229 HX Maastricht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-2496-3464
Clarissa DakinSchool of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6346-3606
Kees de GraafDivision of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University and Research, 6708 WG Wageningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-5748-6916
Graham FinlaysonSchool of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-5620-2256
Ciarán G FordeDivision of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University and Research, 6708 WG Wageningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-4001-9182
Jason C G HalfordSchool of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-1629-3189
Louise KjølbækDepartment of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, 1165 København, Denmark.ORCID 0000-0003-4310-9332
Monica MarsDivision of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University and Research, 6708 WG Wageningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-2010-1039
J Alfredo MartinezCentro de Investigación Biomédica en Red, Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain.ORCID 0000-0001-5218-6941
Santiago Navas-CarreteroCentro de Investigación Biomédica en Red, Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-5163-2230
Anne RabenDepartment of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, 1165 København, Denmark.ORCID 0000-0001-5229-4491
Corey ScottCargill R&D Center, B-1800 Vilvoorde, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0003-3909-7228
Joanne A HarroldDepartment of Psychology, The University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZX, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-0899-4586

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Non-nutritive sweeteners (NNSs) are consumed to reduce intake by providing a sweet taste with little to no energy. Despite regulatory approval and extensive use, uncertainty remains about their long-term role in weight management and health, and about whether exposure to sweet taste itself, independent of energy, influences these outcomes. This narrative review synthesizes evidence from three recent European consortia: SWEET, SWITCH and Sweet Tooth, which together provide complementary data from acute, short- and long-term randomized controlled trials. The studies examined the effects of NNSs and dietary sweet taste exposure on body weight, health-related biomarkers, sweet taste preference, and eating behavior. Across studies, replacing sugars with NNSs appeared to support weight loss maintenance, while NNS consumption and dietary sweet taste exposure showed no adverse changes in body weight, glucoregulatory and endocrine biomarkers, cardiometabolic risk factors, gut microbiota, or liver enzymes. Likewise, neither NNS use nor different dietary sweet taste exposure altered sweet taste liking, appetite sensation, energy intake, or food choice. However, interpretation should consider the characteristics of the included studies, including selected populations, intervention context, outcome heterogeneity, and the fact that several behavioral and biomarker outcomes were secondary or exploratory. Overall, the reviewed evidence suggests that replacing sugar intake with NNSs may support weight management strategies, while differences in habitual dietary sweet taste exposure per se appear largely neutral with respect to health-related biomarkers and sweet taste preferences.

Indexed as

Food PreferencesNon-Nutritive SweetenersTasteBiomarkersEnergy IntakeEuropeFeeding BehaviorHumansWeight LossBiomarkersNon-Nutritive Sweetenersappetiteglycemiamicrobiotanon-nutritive sweetenerssugarsweet tasteweight management

Identifiers

PMID42280291
PMCPMC13257834

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.