Allergic reaction caused by acesulfame potassium in foods.

The increasing frequency of obesity and related diseases such as diabetes and hypertension is an important healthcare issue. The use of artificial sweeteners has increased in recent decades, for the purpose of limiting excessive calorie intake (1). A large variety of nonnutritive sweeteners are available. Acesulfame potassium is one of these artificial sweeteners, and is used in many types of food and drink. Allergic reactions to artificial sweeteners are very rare. Only a limited number of cases of urticaria and anaphylaxis induced by aspartame (2, 3) and erythritol (4, 5) have been reported previously. We report a patient with allergic reactions caused by acesulfame potassium.