Combining different artificial sweeteners enhances sweetness, masks off-flavors, and creates a more sugar-like taste profile through synergistic interactions. This allows for lower overall sweetener concentrations.
The 'synergistic sweetener' benefit arises from the interaction between different artificial sweeteners, like aspartame and sucralose. Individually, these sweeteners may have undesirable aftertastes or lack the full sweetness profile of sugar. Combining them often creates a sweeter taste experience and masks any off-flavors present in the individual sweeteners. This synergistic effect allows for a lower overall concentration of sweeteners to be used, potentially reducing exposure to any individual sweetener's side effects.