Thoughts on EZ-sweetz, esp w/regard to preservatives

[Spazmelda]

I'm in a discussion elsewhere about sweeteners for juice. I use EZ-sweetz, and have been using it since the beginning of my DIY endeavors. I know that it has some preservatives in it, but after some consideration in the beginning just decided it didn't really bother me.

the ingredients for EZ-sweetz are: Filtered water, Sucralose, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Succinic Acid, and Citric Acid.
My rational has always been that they are in there at low levels. How low? No idea, less than the sucralose, which is already pretty low since 1 drop is equal to 1 tsp of sugar. One tsp of sugar weighs about 4 grams and sucralose is estimated to be about 600 times sweeter than sugar (would that mean there is about 6 mg of sucralose/drop?). Anyway, I also figure that I have no idea how safe it is to inhale sucralose, or any of the other flavors, so why worry about a little bit of preservative?

i use EZ-sweetz at about 2 microliters (0.002 ml) per ml of juice, so the idea of a tiny bit of preservative in this amount of liquid sucralose is too small to bother about.

So, what do you think? Worth worrying about? Why take the risk if you can use sucralose without preservatives? Opinions?

I'm not arguing elsewhere. I generally have the opinion that people should do what they are comfortable with, but I'm just curious about opinions.

 

[Aheadatime]

I tend not to use sweeteners all that much simply because they ruin most of my recipes, even at extremely low percentages. As far as health is concerned, who knows. We don't get an in-depth list of all of the flavor molecules that our concentrates are made of, so many of those same preservatives could be in those as well, just listed as natural or artificial flavor. I personally wouldn't worry about it if you're using it for a reason. If for whatever reason Ez Sweetz tastes much better to you than simple sucralose (like TFA Sweetener), than go for it I guess.

 

[Spazmelda]

Oh, the reasons I use it are because it's strong (though I haven't tried TFA to compare) and I always have it around since we use it in our coffee.

Thanks for answering!

 

[Aheadatime]

Oh, the reasons I use it are because it's strong (though I haven't tried TFA to compare) and I always have it around since we use it in our coffee.

Thanks for answering!

Np. Try using the TFA version sometime just to compare. Judging by how little EZ Sweetz you use, I'd recommend starting at 0.25%-0.5% TFA Sweetener in an unflavored base and seeing how it tastes to you. If you wanted to go lower, which you might, you could always just cut the concentration in half with some PG and then mix that at the same %'s.

 

[b.m.]

Oh, the reasons I use it are because it's strong

You definitely have that right.When i first got my bottle of ez sweetz,i put a drop on my finger and tasted it,wow is all i can say haha.I have used it in alot of recipes,here recently though,i found if you mix 1ml of ez sweetz into 9ml of pg,it is still really sweet,but not nearly as strong.It will still work great in a mix,and that small bottle will last alot longer.Have you noticed any wick or coil gunking when you use it?I was getting severe gunking in less than 20ml with any mix i used it in,but now that i dilute it,the gunking isn't an issue,so that's another plus to cutting it.

 

[Spazmelda]

I have used it both directly at 2 microliters per ml (I use micropipetters so I can measure small amounts accurately), or diluted 1:10 in pg, and using ~0.1ml per 5 ml with that dilution. So, diluting it 1:10 or 1:20 is really just a way measuring small amounts accurately without special measuring equipment.

Then, there is also some confusion with EZ-sweet as it is sold in 2 different concentrations. The bottles with a blue cap are twice as concentrated as the bottles with the yellow caps. So I can see, if someone was using drops from a bottle with a blue cap straight into 5-10 ml of juice, it would be quite a lot more sucralose than what I normally use, so maybe gunking.

I've never had any problem with gunking, maybe because like you I am using a small amount. I can't imagine vaping anything with much more sucralose in it as it would be sticky sweet.

I guess my wonder about EZ-sweetz is should I recommend it to other people? I've recommended the free sample, many times, but if people are generally nervous about preservatives maybe I should just quit doing that and recommend TFA sweetener.