University of Chile Study Examines Multigenerational Gut and Metabolic Effects of Sucralose and Stevia in Mice

A study by researchers at the University of Chile suggests that sucralose and stevia may trigger biological changes passed down to future generations. The additives could alter gut microbiota, gene expression and metabolism in mice, with some effects persisting in first- and second-generation offspring of the exposed mice, even in offspring never directly exposed to the sweeteners.

Francisca Concha, the lead researcher, is an assistant professor at the University of Chile and a member of the university’s nutrition department.

She said in an interview that the research was inspired by higher rates of diabetes, obesity and insulin resistance despite many products containing NNS. “This situation raised the question of whether [artificial sweeteners] were truly harmless,” Concha added. The team’s paper looked at how artificial and natural NNS drive divergent gut and genetic responses across generations.

It was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Frontiers in Nutrition in April, South China Morning Post reported. Sucralose and stevia are two of the world’s most widely used non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS). The article detailing the findings was published on 7 May 2026.

The study focused on the two common sweeteners after observing persistent metabolic issues in populations consuming products that replaced nutritive sugars with NNS. Concha’s team examined multigenerational impacts in mice to test whether the sweeteners were truly harmless across generations.

Those same alterations continued in their descendants that had no direct contact with sucralose or stevia, according to the University of Chile researchers. The paper distinguishes between the responses triggered by artificial and natural NNS. It documents how the two categories produce divergent gut and genetic outcomes that carry forward beyond the first generation.