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What Is Acesulfame Potassium? Ace-K Sweetener Explained
Acesulfame potassium, usually shortened to Ace-K on a label, is a sweetener about 200 times sweeter than sugar. The body absorbs it and then passes it out in urine unchanged, so it adds no calories. It also keeps its sweetness through an oven, which is why it shows up in sugar free cakes next to maltitol.
Two of ours that list it, if you would like to see it on a real label:
On this page: what it is made of · how sweet it is · why it is paired · calories · safety
What is acesulfame potassium made of?
Acesulfame potassium is a potassium salt made by chemical synthesis. It does not come from a plant. The K in its other name, acesulfame K, is the chemical symbol for potassium. US labels list it as acesulfame K, acesulfame potassium or Ace-K. The FDA regulates it as a food additive under 21 CFR 172.800. In Europe the same sweetener carries the number E950.
It is a white powder that dissolves easily in water. Nobody bakes with it by the spoonful, because a recipe needs only a trace.
How sweet is Ace-K compared with sugar?
The US Food and Drug Administration puts it at about 200 times sweeter than table sugar. A gram of it does the sweetening work of roughly 200 grams of sugar.
Because so little is needed, it often sits at the tail of an ingredient list. On our Butter Sweets the list runs isomalt, water, butter, milk cream, flavoring, salt, soy lecithin, whey powder and caramel color, then acesulfame K, last of all.
Why is Ace-K paired with other sweeteners?
A piece of candy or a slice of cake needs bulk as well as sweetness. A few milligrams of powder give no bulk at all. So in candy and cakes Ace-K works alongside a sugar alcohol, the family of sweeteners that includes maltitol and isomalt. Most of what you eat in sugar free candy is the sugar alcohol; the Ace-K is there in milligrams, to bring the sweetness up to what you expect.
Isomalt is about half as sweet as sugar, so in our Butter Sweets the Ace-K makes up the difference. In our Chocolate Cake the pairing is printed by number in one bracket: Sweeteners (E965, E950), which is maltitol and Ace-K. The cake is baked, which suits it: the FDA notes that Ace-K stays sweet at baking temperatures.
| Ace-K | Maltitol | Isomalt | |
|---|---|---|---|
| European E number | E950 | E965 | E953 |
| Sweetness next to sugar | About 200 times | About 90 percent | About half |
| Job in the recipe | Sweetness in tiny amounts | Bulk, sweetness, melt | Bulk, a hard clear set |
| On the nutrition panel | Not a sugar, not a sugar alcohol | Counted as a sugar alcohol | Counted as a sugar alcohol |
Sources: FDA; European additive numbers as listed on our packs.
Does Ace-K have calories?
No calories reach you from it. In the human studies reviewed by JECFA, the joint FAO and WHO expert committee on food additives, absorption was rapid and virtually complete and over 99 percent of the dose left in urine, with only the original substance found (JECFA monograph).
It does not count as a sugar either. The panel on our 200 g Chocolate Cake reads 0 g sugars and 21 g polyols per 100 g. Polyols is the European label word for sugar alcohols. Ace-K is not a sugar alcohol, so none of that 21 g is Ace-K. It has no line of its own. Our sugar free cakes and candy are not low calorie foods; the calories are on the same panel.
Is Ace-K safe to eat?
Yes. The FDA uses an acceptable daily intake of 15 mg per kg of body weight for Ace-K. It permitted the sweetener in specific foods in 1988 and as a general purpose sweetener in 2003, after reviewing more than 90 studies, including work on reproduction, cancer and metabolism (FDA).
The European Food Safety Authority landed on the same figure in a full re-evaluation published in April 2025. It raised its limit from 9 to 15 mg per kg and found the highest European exposure estimates generally below it (EFSA Journal, 2025). For a 154 lb adult, about 70 kg, that works out at 1,050 mg a day.
Ace-K brings no digestive warning of its own. The line "excessive consumption may produce laxative effects" on our candy and cake packs comes from the sugar alcohols they contain. More on that family in our guide to sugar alcohols.
Frequently asked questions
Is acesulfame potassium bad for you?
No. The FDA sets its acceptable daily intake at 15 mg per kg of body weight after reviewing more than 90 studies. Europe's food safety authority re-evaluated it in 2025 and arrived at the same 15 mg per kg.
Is Ace-K natural?
No. It is made by chemical synthesis and does not occur in plants, unlike steviol glycosides, which are extracted from the stevia leaf.
Is Ace-K the same as aspartame?
No. They are separate sweeteners, E950 and E951 in Europe, and the FDA lists each one separately with its own acceptable daily intake.
Why does sugar free candy need two sweeteners?
The sugar alcohol gives the candy its bulk and texture but is less sweet than sugar. A trace of Ace-K tops up the sweetness without changing the texture.