Aspartame is an artificial non-saccharide sweetener 200 times sweeter than sucrose. It is commonly used as a sugar substitute in foods and beverages. Aspartame is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide category. It (aspartame) was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1974. Its approval was revoked in 1980 before being re-instated a year later. It is one of the most studied food additives in the human food supply. Because of its low caloric value, it is often a preferred sweetener when there are concerns of weight gain, an attribute glucose and sucrose do not have (it is an ingredient of many diet drinks and chewing gum), the latter being, among other concerns, obesitogenic and diabetogenic.