How much sucralose does Powerade Zero contain? Why does that information not appear to be provided?

Question

I recently discovered Powerade Zero, which apparently has zero sugar / zero calories and is artificially sweetened by sucralose.

Normally when I'm concerned about sugar content (which is basically all the time, because nearly everything has loads of sugar in it nowadays) I check the nutritional information, and it's always there, Sugars ... x grams.

But with sucralose, there's no line for it in the nutrition label. I can find it in the ingredients list of course, but there's no indication of quantity.

I have three questions:

1. How much sucralose does Powerade Zero contain?

2. Why isn't the quantity provided in the nutrition label (for sucralose as well as many other ingredients)? Does the absence of quantity information mean that it's not significant / shouldn't be a concern?

3. Is there any way for a random ignoramus like me to get this information without having to ask this question on Stack Exchange and wait/hope for an expert to answer?

Answer 1

Sucralose is considered to be a non nutritive sweetener, since the body does not break down the majority of the sucralose molecule. Because of that, it's considered to be non caloric, so it won't be included under the nutrition information.

As far as the quantity, there is no requirement under FDA regulations that the specific amounts be listed, and would probably violate copyright patents, as then people could duplicate the formula. As pointed out in the top answer here, ingredients are listed in order of percentage, so the ingredient that makes up the most of the product is listed first, the next second, etc.

As far as finding out, many search engines and product reviews may help, as it is just legwork and patience that will get you the information that you need (in most cases).

However, there have been some recent cautions against sucralose, since an Italian study showed a link between increased cancer risk with increased consumption of sucralose (as well as aspartame). I do stress that these are early studies, and have not yet been followed up with further research.