As miraculin is a readily soluble protein and relatively heat stable, it is a potential sweetener in acidic food, such as soft drinks. While attempts to express it in yeast and tobacco plants have failed, researchers have succeeded in preparing genetically modified E. coli bacteria that express miraculin. Lettuce and tomato have also been used for mass production of miraculin.
The use of miraculin as a food additive was denied in 1974 by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Since 2011, the FDA has imposed a ban on importing Synsepalum dulcificum (specifying miraculin) from its origin in Taiwan, declaring it as an "illegal undeclared sweetener". The ban does not apply to the use of manufactured miraculin in dietary supplements. Miraculin has a novel food status in the European Union. It is approved in Japan as a safe food additive, according to the List of Existing Food Additives published by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (published by the Japan External Trade Organization).