Opinion: Artificial sweeteners can be worse than the sugar they replace. Here's a better alternative

Editor's Note: Susan Puckett is a James Beard Award-nominated food journalist and editor who has authored or collaborated on more than a dozen books. She was the food editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for nearly two decades. The views expressed in this article are her own. Read more opinion at CNN. This piece has been updated to reflect the latest news regarding the risk assessment of aspartame.

For many of us, the quest for a sugar alternative to satisfy our sweet cravings knows no end.

Food companies have rolled out a parade of faux sugar options since the accidental discovery of saccharin in a lab well over a century ago. But none of these sweeteners has escaped controversy, not even the ones touted as "natural."

In June, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer assessed aspartame, a common sweetener, for potential carcinogenic effects. And, on Thursday, the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives, a WHO and United Nations committee, released an updated risk assessment for consuming the product. While the committee deemed that there is "limited evidence" to suggest carcinogenicity in humans and reaffirmed the acceptable daily intake to be 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, this does not mean it's advisable to rely on aspartame or other sugar substitutes to satisfy your sweet tooth.

(American Beverage, an association that represents the non-alcoholic beverage industry, said in a statement: "There is a broad consensus in the scientific and regulatory community that aspartame is safe. It's a conclusion reached time and time again by food safety agencies around the world.")

The latest sugar substitute to come under fire is erythritol, a sugar alcohol found in small amounts in fruits and vegetables and often blended with popular plant-based sweeteners such as stevia and monk fruit in a litany of products geared to a health-conscious crowd. Often, it's listed on product packages under a generic term, such as "reduced sugars," so you may have consumed it without realizing it.

But earlier this year, a scientific report linked erythritol with higher rates of blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes - the very ailments we were thinking it might help prevent. Industry reps pushed back, claiming the findings were contrary to decades of scientific research attesting to its safety.