In roughly a decade of commercial distribution, Splenda® has taken the artificial sweetener industry by storm. Between 2000 and 2006, the percentage of U.S. households using Splenda® products jumped from 3 to 20 percent. It is presently the nation’s number one selling artificial sweetener. With the FDA having approved Splenda and the knowledge that it even starts off as real sugar, you might think there is nothing wrong with this rapid growth, but you’d be wrong. Here are some facts you need to know before you dump another one of those little yellow packets into your coffee.
The FDA only looked at 2 tests before approving Splenda®
As of 2005, only six human trials had been conducted on sucralose (Splenda®). Of these six trials, only two were completed and published before the FDA approved sucralose for human consumption. To date, no studies have been done on children or pregnant women.
Most of the tests were performed on animals
McNeil Nutritionals stresses that over 100 studies have been conducted on Splenda. However, what the company neglects to mention is that most of the studies were performed on animals.
Sugar doesn’t think it’s just like sugar
The competition among sweeteners is anything but sweet. The sugar industry is currently suing McNeil Nutritionals for implying that Splenda® is a natural form of sugar with no calories.
No long-term testing
There have been no long-term human toxicity studies published until after the FDA approved sucralose for human consumption. The longest trial at the time Splenda® was approved lasted only four days and looked at sucralose in relation to tooth decay.
Sure it starts off as sugar, but…
There is no question that sucralose starts off as a sugar molecule, it is what goes on in the factory after that is concerning. Sucralose is cooked up using a five step patented process that includes adding chlorine (yup, the stuff in your pool). This process alters the sugar molucule so much that it is turned into a fructo-galactose molecule, a type of molecule that does not occur in nature. As a result, your body doesn’t have the ability to properly digest or metabolize it, which allows McNeil Nutritionals to make the claim that Splenda® has zero calories.
The bottom line is that Splenda® has not been tested sufficiently and is anything but sugar. In fact, it bears more chemical similarity to DDT than it does to sugar. Yes, that DDT. The synthetic pesticide that is suspected to cause cancer. So next time you decide your coffe is a bit too bitter, you might want to think twice before you sweeten it up with Splenda®.
Tags: animal testing, artifical sweetner, calories, dietary supplement, factory, FDA, health, healthy, healthy living, long term testing, no calories, nutrition, nutrition advice, splenda, sucralose, sugar, toxicity
