Bitter Battle over Truth in Sweeteners
By Christopher Wanjek <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, LiveScience's Bad
Medicine Columnist
posted: 15 May 2007 09:45 am ET
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McNeil Nutritionals, the makers of Splenda, the most popular-selling
artificial sweetener in the United States, is feeling bitter these days.
Merisant, the makers of Equal, sued Splenda in France and in the United
States over Splenda's slogan, "made from sugar so it tastes like sugar,"
which Equal and an unlikely ally, the Sugar Association, say is misleading.
Last week a French court sided with Equal, ordering Splenda to punt the
slogan in France. Then on Friday, just moments before a U.S. jury was
about to read its verdict, Splenda, sensing defeat, reached an
undisclosed settlement with Equal.
The last-second settlement was highly unusual, forcing the judge to
instruct the jury never to speak of its verdict. And both companies are
mum on the settlement, which insiders say will cost Splenda millions of
dollars. It is unclear who the winner is, though, as all sides have
emerged looking sour.
*Sweet slogan*
Splenda, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1998, is known
chemically as trichlorosucrose. Splenda's makers like the alternate
name, sucralose, which was created to sound more like sucrose, the
chemical name for table sugar. Sucralose isn't sucrose, much like
cellulose isn't celery.
There are several ways to make trichlorosucrose. One can start with
raffinose, which is a carbohydrate containing three different kinds of
sugar molecules, or one can use sucrose. Regardless, the process
ultimately involves replacing three oxygen-hydrogen groups in a sucrose
(sugar) molecule with three chlorine atoms. Hence the claim that Splenda
is made from sugar.
From a responsible chemist's standpoint, the Splenda slogan is
ludicrous. This is like the automobile industry saying that ozone, O3,
is as healthy as air because it is made from oxygen, O2. Rock candy is
made from sugar, and the sugar is still there. But the sugar is Splenda
is merely a chemical placeholder needed to added chlorine, the substance
that makes trichlorosucrose more than 200 times sweeter than sugar.
That is, sugar doesn't make Splenda sweet; chlorine does.
*Lesser of two evils?*
Splenda's makers packaged their product to sound more natural, knowing
consumers worry about alleged health consequences of other synthesized
sweeteners, such as Equal (aspartame) or Sweet & Low (saccharine). And
the plan worked. Within two years after its introduction, Splenda
overtook Equal and now commands about two-thirds of the artificial
sweetener market.
Just because a synthesized molecule is similar to a natural sugar
molecule doesn't make it safe. Just a one- or two-atom change makes a
big difference when ingesting water versus hydrogen peroxide, beer
versus wood alcohol, or carbon dioxide versus carbon monoxide.
The true test of safety lies in long-term health studies, not wordplay.
Splenda does have dozens of studies to demonstrate that it is generally
safe for human consumption, so many countries have approved its use in
beverages and baked goods.
Yet all sweeteners, artificial or natural, have pluses and minuses.
Sugar is associated with obesity, tooth decay and hyperactivity. One
must wonder whether such a "chemical," atom for atom, would be approved
by the FDA if it were made in a lab. Recent case studies have revealed
that Splenda, like Equal, can cause migraine headaches, but the
incidence is rare.
Sugar can make bitter foods more palatable, which is why the World
Health Organization allows some added sugar as part of a healthy diet.
Splenda, Equal and saccharine have been a godsend to diabetics and
dieters. Some folks will accept a remote chance of developing cancer,
although none of these products have been shown conclusively to cause
human cancer.
*Stevia in brevia *
The Sugar Association funds the "Truth about Splenda" website, with
so-called frequently asked questions like "Is the chlorine in Splenda
any different than the chlorine used in swimming pools?" Oh, I'm sure
they get this question all the time. The answer doesn't explain that
table salt is half chlorine.
The Sugar Association's own sunny website is filled with lots of smiling
people with surprisingly no sign of tooth decay. They are as guilty as
the artificial sweetener manufacturers in downplaying the harm of
over-consumption.
It is a mystery why stevia, a South American plant more than 300 times
sweeter than sugar, remains illegal for use as a sweetener in the United
States. This essentially zero-calorie natural product has been used for
decades in many countries and is deemed safe by the WHO. Could it be
that the mighty U.S. sugar and corn syrup industries have pressured the
FDA not to approve it?
Some U.S. stores are now carrying stevia as a dietary supplement. But
stevia growers are bit players in the billion-dollar sweetener market
dominated by slick ad campaigns.
/Christopher Wanjek is the author of the books "Bad Medicine
<http://www.christopherwanjek.com/Site/Bad%20Medicine.html>" and "Food
At Work <http://www.christopherwanjek.com/Site/Food%20at%20Work.html>."
Got a question about Bad Medicine? Email Wanjek
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. If it's really bad, he just might answer it
in a future column. Bad Medicine appears each Tuesday on LIveScience. /
<http://www.livescience.com/bestimg/?cat=myths>
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