[MRSKMS]

There was a rather heated thread on another website on this.

Just curious how everyone feels about this?

Like most everything in the world that we eat,drink, take for pain or meds etc I guess I ultimately believe in moderation.

In normal amounts I am not convinced that it is a problem. However if you are one that uses multiple products daily that contain it or like some I know drink excessive amounts of diet sodas daily (SIL used to drink at least 2-3 2lt bottles daily!!) then maybe you are setting yourself with health related problems

I just have a rather hard time reading and believing alot of what is posted and printed out there as in my mind it still isnt really substantiated by fact.


We all need to what is best for ourselves but I am not about to use fearmongering to try and push my views on someone else.
Cindy

[jacolmom]

I tend to agree with you. But all things in moderation are not harmful, it's the over-use or abuse of something that makes it harmful. The pediatrician suggested I should use it as a substitute for the kids. My son hates the taste and has reduced his intake of sweets and my daughter is ok with it on her cereal and when I make us a treat.

[Kelly_S]

I believe people need to have knowledge to make an informed judgement on what they use and don't use. Here is some information (from an old file) on Sugar and Sugar substitutes:

SUGAR BY OTHER NAMES

Sugar is a pure carbohydrate. It raises blood glucose and insulin levels almost immediately upon consumption.

Read labels carefully sugar can be "hidden" by several names such as molasses, corn syrup, fructose, dextrose, sucrose --- all are sugar by other names. If none of the sugar names are listed in the ingredients, then the number of grams listed under “Sugars” on the nutrition label refers to naturally-occuring sugar.

Saccharin - The oldest of the artificial sweeteners (AS), saccharin is a non-caloric sweetener found in many foods and beverages. The most well-known saccharin product is Sweet ‘n Low, which is available in packets in supermarkets and most restaurants. It is also available in bulk form as Sugar Twin & Brown Sugar Twin.

Some people do not like the taste, there have been mixed results with it in baking, and the bulk form is not available everywhere, so it’s less versatile than some other artificial sweeteners.

Aspartame - This is widely available as EQUAL & NUTRASWEET, and used in many, many commercially-available products, including almost all soft drinks. It is available in both packets and in bulk. The manufacturer, Monsanto, has stated that all the EQUAL & NUTRASWEET they sell is the same chemically, whether in packets or bulk. Some people claim they have had success using aspartame in baking; most report disappointing results, noting a “nasty” taste in the baked product.

More serious are the many concerns regarding aspartame’s safety. Indeed, it is perhaps the most controversial food product on the market today.

Aspartame is composed of phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol. When heated or digested (above 400 degrees F), it breaks down into these three components. Phenylalanine and aspartic acid are amino acids that are found in natural proteins and under normal circumstances are beneficial for health. Methanol is wood alcohol and poisonous. The transition point for the degradation into methanol is about 86°F. There is documented proof that in the human body aspartame releases into the bloodstream one molecule of methanol for each molecule of aspartame consumed. Methanol is considered a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed. In the body, methanol is oxidized into formaldehyde and formic acid. Both are toxic.

Acesulfame K - Also known as Acesulfame Potassium & Ace-K, this artificial sweetener is used in quite a few food and non-food items. Available in package form as “Sweet One” (although availability seems to be limited). Also now used in the ‘new’ Diet Pepsi.


SPLENDA - This is considered by many to be the best sugar substitute currently available. Splenda is the brand name for sucralose, which is made from sugar by a patented process that replaces three of sugar's hydrogen-oxygen groups with chlorine atoms. This makes the resulting sucralose molecule extremely sweet (about 600 times sweeter than sugar) and extremely stable.

The manufacturer claims that unlike other artificial sweeteners, it will not break down or lose its sweetness when used in cooking or baking, or when used in beverages, like carbonated soft drinks, which typically have a high acidity. However, many people have noted a decrease in the sweetness level during the baking process. The sweetness seems to ‘fade’ a bit, which is why some people also add a little stevia to their baked goods.

Also, sucralose cannot be metabolized (broken down) by the body's food-digesting enzymes, and therefore has no calories. More importantly, it has no effect on insulin or blood glucose levels.

The FDA granted approval for the use of Splenda as a general sweetener several years ago, and it has been in use since 1991 in hundreds of reduced-calorie and reduced-sugar products such as carbonated soft drinks, shelf-stable fruit drinks, jams, processed fruit products (e.g. apple sauce), yogurt, and baked goods.

Although widely available in Canada, Splenda is only available online in the USA (with a few, recent exceptions). You can purchase Splenda in packets, tablets or 'granular' form.

Be forewarned, however, that both the packets and granular have maltodextrin as a 'filler' to increase the bulk of the sucralose, so that it can be measured the same as sugar (i.e., 1 cup granular Splenda = 1 cup sugar). And the maltodextrin filler has carbohydrates thus calories (1 carb = 4 calories): .5g per teaspoon, 24g to a cup.
The packets of Splenda do not measure out the same as table sugar. Each packet is equivalent in sweetness to 2 tsp of sugar. The packets have 1g of dextrose per packet with a small amount of Maltodextrin. There is 1g of carbohydrates or 4 calories. This information was confirmed with the manufacturer.

STEVIA - This is a natural sweetener derived from the stevia plant, grown primarily in South America but used all over the world for it’s powerful sweetening properties.

There are two stevia forms of interest to us: powder (green or white --- get the white!) ‘steviosides’ (pure extract) and liquid. The powder is far preferable because it is easier to measure and control than the liquid. Because this is a powerful sweetener, a little goes a long way; you might even need to invest in smaller fractional measuring spoons (such as 1/8 tsp). It can be used in baking without any degradation of taste or intensity. Some people like to combine it with other sweeteners such as Splenda or Isomalt to produce the best facsimile of true sugar taste possible. As always, this is largely a matter of personal (subjective) taste.

Some people think stevia has an herbal or licorice taste; others find the taste is just fine. It seems clear that quality and brand both play roles in the taste of stevia. Two brands given an A-OK rating: NOW and Wisdom of the Ancients. Stevia is available at most health food stores. Since it is only available currently as a dietary supplement, that’s the section of your health food store to look in.

SUGAR ALCOHOL - This family of compounds, also called polyols, which contain neither sugar or alcohol, are a boon to dieters since they affect blood glucose and insulin levels much less than real sugar or not at all.

Sugar alcohols have been used for many years in many products. They can be safely submitted to high heat. The only point of caution is that they can produce gastro-intestinal distress and a laxative effect for some people in “excessive amounts”. The working definition of “excessive amounts” varies by individual. Some have reported extreme GI distress and diarrhea after eating only a single piece of candy. The website cited above notes that symptoms seem to be affected not only by a person’s sensitivity level, but by whatever else they might have consumed around the same time as the sugar alcohol item. More importantly, the site advises: “Any gastrointestinal symptoms from consuming foods with polyols, if they occur at all, are usually mild and temporary. If a person believes they are sensitive to polyols, the amount eaten on a single occasion should be reduced. Most people will adapt to polyols after a few days, the same way they do to high fiber foods. Many people with diabetes, for example, have learned from their health professional to eat only a small amount of sugar-free products at first and then to gradually increase these foods in the diet.”


SORBITOL - occurs naturally in many edible fruits and berries. It is absorbed as readily as sugar by the body even though the body uses it in much the same way as sugar. Sorbitol has a mildly sweet taste, about 60% as intense as cane sugar.

MALTITOL - is a disaccharide polyol produced from maltose, occurring widely in nature as in chicory and roasted malt and can be up to 95% as sweet as table sugar. It has a pleasant sweet taste with no after taste and has less of a laxative effect than sorbitol or mannitol. Excess consumption (over 15 grams (may be listed as sugar alcohols) may have a laxative effect.)

MANNITOL - is a monosaccharide polyol with about 70% the sweetening power of table sugar. Excess consumption (over 10 grams ) can have a laxative effect. Xylitol Xylitol is a monosaccaride polyol derived from fruits and vegetables (such as lettuce, carrots, strawberries) and from fibrous plants.

H S H ( Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysate ) also called ( Lycasin ) - is from corn. The corn kernels are Steeped, grounded and degerminated the hull, fiber and gluten are removed, leaving the liquid starch. This starch is then partially "hydrolyzed" into thick syrup. The Syrup is then placed in a reaction vessel and hydrogen gas is pumped in. With the aid of a catalyst, these extra hydrogen atoms are fused into new molecules that change the syrup into HSH ( Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysate ).

ISOMALT - is a fairly new sugar substitute, it was discovered in the early 1950's by Sudzuker AG, the processor of sugar beets in Europe. Isomalt is 50% lower in calories than table sugar and only about 50% of it is metabolized by the body.

[Kelly_S]

Here is some more information on Splenda:

What's up with Splenda? Well, like saccharin, cyclamate and aspartame (nutrasweet) it's a chemical compound that has a sweet taste, but the body does not metabolize it, and therefore it has no calories! Your body can't derive any energy (which we measure units of calories) from any of these sweeteners, therefore all these types of compounds are called "non-nutritive" sweeteners. Splenda is different from the other sweeteners listed above in several ways, but the main ways that are important to us as consumers are:

1. It's heat stable (meaning the molecule doesn't fall apart in cooking like nutrasweet does) so you can cook with it.

2. It doesn't (apparently) have a nasty aftertaste like saccharin does.

3. The FDA hasn't (yet) discovered any potential health risks from consuming Splenda (not that there haven't been safety studies already, there have been!) This differs from aspartame, which is bad if you have a disease called phenyketonuria, which means you can't metabolize phenyalanine and it can build up to toxic levels in your body. Also saccharin and cyclamate were implicated in some cancer risks a number of years ago (if you were a rat consuming mass quantities over a short period of time).

Now, that probably answered your question in more detail than you wanted, but for folks who want more:

What is the chemical compound in Splenda?

The short chemical name for splenda is "sucralose" and the long chemical name is...oh, well, trust me, you don't want to know. I will say that the long chemical name for table sugar (sucrose) is equally scary looking.

Sucralose molecules look EXACTLY like sugar molecules, with the exception that sucralose has three chlorine (Cl) atoms where sucrose would normally have three oxygen-hydrogen (hydroxyl, OH) groups. That makes sucralose different enough that your body can't digest it, but keeps it similar enough that it still interacts with your tastebuds and is sweet. The other sweeteners (aspartame, etc.) don't chemically look ANYTHING like table sugar, they're just compounds that happen to be sweet.

www.splenda.com

Availability:

SPLENDA® will be available to consumers in tabletop packages (granular boxes and packets) beginning September 2000. Until now, SPLENDA® has been available to consumers on a limited basis.

SPLENDA® is produced and marketed by McNeil Specialty Products Company, a member of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies.

SPLENDA® is also available as an ingredient in a broad range of products currently available in the U.S., including:

Ocean Spray® Lightstyle® fruit drinks
Tropicana Twister® Light fruit drinks,
Diet RC® Cola, Diet Rite® Cola,
Swiss Miss® Hot Cocoa Mix,
Veryfine® Fruit2O flavored water,
Log Cabin® Sugar Free Low Calorie Syrup,
Lucky Leaf® Lite pie fillings,
Musselman’s® "No Sugar Added" Apple Sauce

To meet widespread demand for SPLENDA® in the U.S., McNeil Specialty Products Company has built a manufacturing facility in McIntosh, Alabama.

Product Description:

SPLENDA® is the only no calorie sweetener that is made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar. It can be used virtually anywhere sugar is used, including cooking and baking.
SPLENDA® received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in April 1998 for use in 15 food and beverage categories, the broadest initial approval ever given to a no calorie sweetener.

In August 1999, only 16 months after initial regulatory approval, the FDA granted approval to SPLENDA® for use as a general purpose sweetener, expanding the categories to include all food and beverage applications.

Origin/Discovery:

SPLENDA® (also known as sucralose) was discovered in 1976.
SPLENDA® is made from sugar through a patented, multi-step process that selectively replaces three hydrogen-oxygen groups on the sugar molecule with three chlorine atoms. The result is an exceptionally stable sweetener that tastes like sugar, but without sugar’s calories. After consumption, it passes through the body without being metabolized.

Safety:

SPLENDA® has been subjected to one of the most extensive and thorough safety testing programs ever conducted on a new food additive.

More than 100 scientific studies, conducted and evaluated over a 20-year period, have clearly demonstrated the safety of SPLENDA®.

Over 40 regulatory agencies worldwide have permitted the use of SPLENDA®, including the United States Food and Drug Administration, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), the Health Protection Branch of Health and Welfare Canada, and Australia’s National Food Authority.

Since 1991, millions of people have enjoyed the great taste of SPLENDA®. SPLENDA® is now available as an ingredient in over 400 food and beverage products around the world.

Features/Benefits:

SPLENDA® is the only no calorie sweetener that is made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar with no unpleasant aftertaste.

SPLENDA® granular measures and pours just like sugar and it stays sweet at high temperatures so it can be used in cooking and baking. SPLENDA® is an ideal sweetener for the whole family.

Diabetes & Splenda

www.splenda.com

Enjoy the Foods You Love … Again Splenda is exciting news for people with diabetes because it it will help you and your family enjoy the sweet taste of foods and beverages again, without the calories and carbohydrates of sugar.

People with Diabetes can Enjoy the Great Sugar-Like Taste of Splenda!

Sucralose, the no calorie sweetening ingredient in Splenda, is not a carbohydrate and has been shown in studies to have no effect on blood glucose control or insulin levels.

Like other tabletop sweeteners, the granular and packet products contain insignificant amounts of carbohydrates (less than 1gram per serving) to provide volume. These bulking ingredients are found in the form of dextrose (packets) and maltodextrin (packets and granular).

Sucralose is an Ok 'ose'

Though you might have heard anything ending in "ose" means sugar and should be used in moderation, sucralose, the sweetening ingredient in Splenda, is an OK "ose". It is not recognized by the body as sugar or as a carbohydrate and has no calories. Sucralose has also been shown not to cause a rise in hemoglobin A1c (a measure of your average blood glucose level over time).

The Convenience of Sugar without the Carbohydrates.

Splenda can lower carbohydrates and calories in recipes. For example, a cup of Splenda Granular has 96 calories and 24 carbohydrates compared to the 770 calories and 192 carbs found in a cup of sugar. Since Splenda in granular form measures and pours like sugar, you can use it like sugar in your favorite recipes. For your favorite beverages, Splenda packets are the perfect size to take with you anywhere you go.

[mauvaisroux]

Kelly- thanks for those really informative posts I am not a big soft drink fan but I have recently started drinking fruit flavoured waters. They are sweetened with Splenda which I find doesn't have as strong an aftertaste as the other sweeteners.

I was wondering how harmful Splenda may or may not be in comparison so your posts came in handy.

Like MRSKMS I believe in moderation so I only have one small bottle of those flavoured waters per day.

[Kelly_S]

I am also looking for another post that I have on Splenda from a Chem Professor but it may take me a while cuz it was in another message board.

[Teelee6]

Thanks for that information. I am a big fan of Splenda. All the other sugar subs give me migraine headaches, but Splenda does not. I like the taste and use if often, mostly in beverages. My DD also likes the taste of the Splenda sweetened waters, and knowing it's been tested so extensively is reassuring to me. Thanks again.