Nine high-intensity sweeteners in beverages in a single LC-MS/MS analysis

With the increasing demand for reduced sugar or sugar-free products by consumers with chronic non-communicable diseases and individuals seeking weight control, foods and beverages with high-intensity sweeteners (HIS) tend to become more common in the market. Therefore, monitoring HIS concentrations added to industrialised products is an important issue. Thus, an analytical method using LC-MS/MS was established and validated in order to allow the simultaneous determination of nine of these compounds in beverages marketed in Brazil. HIS levels were determined in 132 commercial samples of beverages like nectar-type juices, powdered juices, and soft drinks. The results obtained during validation showed coefficients of variation (CV%) for precision lower than 14.9% and accuracies between 88.5% and 109.9%, with all samples below the maximum limits as set by the Brazilian legislation.