The ideal sweetener does not exist. It would be at least as sweet as sucroseand provide the same properties to a product as sucrose, with processingparameters similar to those of sucrose so that existing equipment can beused. It would be colorless, odorless, and noncariogenic, with a clean, pleas-ant taste, and have immediate onset and not much lingering. Solubility andstability are important. The ideal sweetener must be compatible with a widerange of food ingredients because sweetness is but one element of a complexfood flavor system. Even sucrose is not perfect, being unsuitable for someapplications.number of sweeteners