I need to know whether dogs perceive aspartame as sweet, and need, as
confirmation, a research article or articles to read and evaluate.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 12 Jan 2006 14:15 PST

Please let me know if this study is of use to you (see particularly
Table 2, "Gustatory responses in cats and dogs of various compounds
sweet to humans."):

http://www.iupac.org/publications/pac/2002/pdf/7407x1153.pdf

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Clarification of Question by danireed-ga on 13 Jan 2006 02:23 PST

Hi Pinkfreud,

I have the paper from Dr. Glaser (2002) and it does have the table
with the results of the (dogs don't perceive aspartame), but I was
hoping for a paper with the data that allowed them to draw that
conclusion.

Another avenue might be to examine the early studies that tested
whether aspartame was safe: these studies were done in dogs, and I am
wondering whether, if aspartame is added to the dog's food, whether
they eat more (or less of it).

In fairness, however, I think your comment does "answer the question"
and so if you want to list your comment as the answer, that is OK with
me.

DR

I've done some additional searching, and while I haven't found
anything quite as apt as the Glaser paper, I've turned up a few more
items that may be of interest to you. I've reposted the Glaser link
below, with links to other material that I hope you will find useful.

IUPAC: Specialization and phyletic trends of sweetness reception in animals
http://www.iupac.org/publications/pac/2002/pdf/7407x1153.pdf

Here you'll find the abstract of another Glaser article which
indicates that aspartame is perceived as sweet by certain primates,
but not by others. Glaser speculates on a link to the development of
higher mental development of some species:

Evolution of the Sweetness Receptor in Primates. I. Why Does Alitame
Taste Sweet in all Prosimians and Simians, and Aspartame only in Old
World Simians?
http://chemse.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/20/5/573

This article does not specifically discuss dogs' taste receptors, but
it provides a good discussion of mammalian taste perception:

The Receptors for Mammalian Sweet and Umami Taste 
http://www.cell.com/content/article/fulltext?uid=PIIS0092867403008444

Here is an abstract which describes a study in which beagles responded
in varying ways to sweeteners, but aspartame is not mentioned:

Preference for sugars and nonnutritive sweeteners in young beagles.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=6205334&dopt=Abstract

This is off-topic, but I thought it might be of interest. Apparently
cats lack an appreciation of any kind of sweetness because of a
dysfunctional gene:

Pseudogenization of a Sweet-Receptor Gene Accounts for Cats'
Indifference toward Sugar
http://genetics.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.0010003

Very best regards,
pinkfreud

A complete and well-researched answer.  Thanks to pinkfreud.

This abstract may be of interest to you:

http://www.sbf.admin.ch/htm/services/publikationen/international/frp/eu-abstracts/html/fp/fp4/f98.0259.html

Research is ongoing (and not well funded) but the emerging opinion is
dogs and cats aren't interested in sweets. The sweet foods they eat
also happen to be high in fats and that's what they like.

Think about it. Humans developed a sweet tooth and the ability to find
such foods because those would be ripe fruits or other high-calorie
things. Carnivores, especially an obligate carnivore like the cat,
would have minimal use of such an adaptation.

I am confident a Researcher can find supporting documentation.

Many thanks for the five stars and the generous tip!

~pinkfreud