Artificial sweeteners have grown in popularity as ‘safe’ alternatives to sugar (sucrose). They are extensively used by the beverage industry to make ‘diet’ sodas, they are also used in various packaged foods, drugs and mouthwashes. The most popular artificial sweeteners include saccharin, sucralose, aspartame, stevia, acesulfame potassium (acesulfame—K ) and neotame. Figure 1. Popular artificial sweeteners. Link These products are many times sweeter than sucrose: saccharin is roughly 300 times sweeter than sucrose; aspartame is about 200 times sweeter than sucrose; sucralose (which is derived from sucrose by substituting chlorine for three hydroxyl groups present in the structure of sucrose) is 600 times sweeter than sucrose. Neotame, by the way, takes things to a whole new level – neotame is considered the most potent sweetener on the market, it is roughly 7000 times sweeter than sucrose. Figure 2. A comparison
As countries continue to administer various COVID-19 vaccines to their citizens, the words "herd immunity" are increasingly thrown around in many circles. Let us examine the meaning and benefits of herd immunity. What is herd immunity? A.W Hedrich , a researcher studying the spread of measles in the United States between 1900 and 1931 observed that as more infected children recovered from measles and became immune to the disease, the rate of transmission of measles decreased and the children who had no immunity were protected. He then coined the term "herd immunity" to describe this phenomenon. Credit - Wikipedia Herd immunity, also known as community protection , can be defined as a form of indirect protection from some infectious diseases when a sufficient proportion of a population has