Artificial sweeteners. What are the recommendations for children?

Recommendations on the use of non sugar sweeteners (NSS), commonly known as artificial sweeteners.

15th December 2025

4 minutes read time

by Lucy Upton

Leading UK Paediatric Dietitian and Nutritionist. MSc in Nutrition and Dietetics

Inside this article

What are non sugar sweeteners ?
What are free sugars?
What are the recommendations on NSS for children?
How can I implement these changes in my child’s diet?

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) recently published a statement in response the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) guideline on the use of non sugar sweeteners (NSS), commonly known as artificial sweeteners. With health campaigns aimed at reducing the amount of sugar in the UK diet this may have resulted in an increased intake of NSS consumption across the age groups. We know that reducing free sugars helps to reduce tooth decay, excess calorie intake and obesity but long term health effects of the corresponding increased NSS consumption are not clear. In this blog we will look at:

What are non sugar sweeteners
What are free sugars
What are the recommendations for children
How can I implement these changes each day

What are non sugar sweeteners ?

NSS are naturally, chemically derived or modified non nutritive sweeteners that are not classified as sugars. They are made to make food and drinks taste sweet, replicating the taste or sugar, without adding additional calories. They are used in many foods and beverages to help reduce overall calorie density of the product. There are 11 approved low calorie NSS which can be used in the UK:

Acesulfame-K (E950)
Advantame (E969)
Aspartame (E951)
Aspartame-acesulfame salt (E962)
Cyclamate (E952)
Neohesperidin DC (E959)
Neotame (E961)
Saccharin (E954)
Steviol glycosides “Stevia” (E960)
Sucralose (E955)
Thaumatin (E957)

What are free sugars?

“Free sugars are sugars added to foods by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, plus sugars naturally present in honey, syrups and unsweetened fruit juices” (3)

It would include table sugar, maple syrup, agave syrup , coconut sugar, fruit juice, fruit concentrates (often added to snacks) and fruit smoothies. It can be increasingly confusing when the term “refined sugar free” is used on products giving the impression these foods are free of added sugar however these products often contain sugar in the form of fruit concentrates, maple syrup, honey or coconut sugar- which all still contribute towards free sugar intake.

The overall intake of free sugars for adults and Children should not exceed 5% of our daily energy requirements this equates to:

Children aged 4-6 years: No more than 19g per day

Children aged 7-10 years: No more than 24g per day

Children 11 years +: No more than 30g per day (4)

What are the recommendations on NSS for children?

It’s important to know that overall dietary recommendations for a healthy diet have not changed and are based on the Eatwell Guide. This promotes a diet of fruit, vegetables, wholegrain starchy carbohydrates, lean protein and dairy/ dairy alternatives and recommends limiting foods and drinks high in saturated fat, salt and free sugars.

While NSS may help to reduce children’s sugar and calorie intake in the short term, a higher consumption of foods containing NSS is likely to be reflective of an overall poor dietary pattern. The long term focus of dietary changes should be on improving diet quality and moving towards a diet that is less sweet overall.

The recommendation on intake of free sugar and NSS for children is:

For younger children (infants and preschool children -under 4–5 years old):

not giving them drinks sweetened with sugar or NSS
giving them unsweetened food (not sweetened with either sugar or NSS)

For older children:

swapping sugars for NSS may help reduce sugar intake from foods and drinks (and so reduce energy intake), at least in the short term – the long-term goal is to limit both sugar and NSS intake

How can I implement these changes in my child’s diet?

Reducing the quantity of free sugar and NSS can be challenging given that they are readily added to foods. It’s not always possible of feasible to avoid these foods completely but here are some ways that you can proactively reduce these in your child’s diet.

Focus on a whole food diet in line with the Eat Well Plate including lots of fruits, vegetables, wholegrains.
Avoiding use of sugar sweetened beverage for all children- this includes fizzy drinks, fruit squash and cordial flavoured milk drinks, sweetened plant based milk alternatives*. Drinks marketed for infants and young children are not necessary, try to offer water or milk only.
Offer plain/natural yogurt instead of yogurts with the addition of fruit purees, chocolate or mueslis.
Check your labels- it can be surprising where free sugars and NSS can sneak into foods such as “ready to eat” foods, pre-prepared pasta sauces, spice mixes, breads and cereal, savoury snacks and more.
Where is may not be possible to find an option with no sugar all look for an option that is low sugar- that is it has less than 5g or sugar per 100g. I would also look that they have not been added in NSS to replace the removed sugar- a good example of this is low sugar baked beans and tomato ketchup.

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