Sucralose

Sucralose is a popular artificial sweetener usually sold with the brand name Splenda. It's manufactured from sugar, but in its finished form is approximately 600 times sweeter, so very little is needed to sweeten foods. Most of it passes through the digestive system without being absorbed. The small amount that is absorbed leaves the body through the urine.

Sucralose is not poisonous, it does not cause cancer and it is not a pesticide. Sucralose does not break down in the body and it doesn't release chlorine into your body.

Sucralose is manufactured from sucrose, what we normal call table sugar. The conversion of sucrose to sucralose is made by adding three chlorine atoms to each molecule of the table sugar. This process makes the sugar indigestible so the body doesn't recognize it as a carbohydrate. Since it isn't digested like sugar, the body isn't able to use it for energy, so no calories are consumed.

Don't let the chlorine scare you. Chlorine is also found as a chloride in table salt, lettuce and mushrooms. Twenty years of science has shown sucralose to be safe for humans to consume.

Sucralose is already found in many products such as diet sodas, yogurt and breakfast cereals. Individual-sized yellow Splenda packets are easy to spot in almost every restaurant and coffee shop to sweeten both hot and cold beverages.

Sucralose can be used like sugar to sprinkle on your cereal, in your coffee or in your cooking and baking.

Splenda is available in large packages for use in baking and cooking. It is important to note that Splenda is a blend of sucralose and starches. The starches do contain some calories - so Splenda has about 95 calories per cup.

Sucralose has been used safely as an artificial sweetener for over 20 years.

Canada was the first country to approve sucralose for use in foods and beverages. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved sucralose in 1998 after reviewing 110 scientific studies. It's approved for use by everyone including pregnant women and children.

There are a few anecdotal reports of adverse reactions to sucralose, and some dubious websites claim it's a cause of several illnesses including thymus damage, which could affect the immune system.

This claim is based on one laboratory study where young rats fed sucralose and low-calorie diets suffered from shrinking thymus glands. This is a common response for rats when they are under stress due to weight loss for any reason and isn't specific to sucralose consumption. Follow-up studies did not discover any evidence of immune system dysfunction.

• Pomegranate Jelly with Splenda
• Sugar-Free Dried Cranberries
• Blueberry Sorbet Made With Splenda

Sources:

International Food Information Council. "Everything You Need to Know About Sucralose." June 2004.

Kille JW, Ford WC, McAnulty P, Tesh JM, Ross FW, Willoughby CR. "Sucralose: lack of effects on sperm glycolysis and reproduction in the rat." Food Chem Toxicol. 2000;38 Suppl 2:S19-29.

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "Facts About Sucralose." 2006.

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: use of nutritive and nonnutritive sweeteners." J Am Diet Assoc. 2004 Feb;104(2):255-75.