By Jim Earles
Section of artical on
sucralose (Splenda)
The fourth FDA-approved non-nutritive
sweetener is sucralose, chemically known as 1,6-dichloro-1,6-dideoxy-BETA-D-fructofuranosyl-4-chloro-4-deoxy-alpha-D-galactopyranoside.64
Sucralose may have the strangest "accidental
discovery" story of all. In 1976, a British
sugar company by the name of Tate & Lyle was
conducting experiments in collaboration with Queen
Elizabeth College at the University of London, searching
for ways to use sucrose as a chemical intermediate.
Shashikant Phadnis, a foreign graduate student working
on the project, misunderstood a request for "testing"
of a chlorinated sugar as a request for "tasting,"
leading to the discovery that many chlorinated sugars
are hundreds or thousands of times sweeter than
sucrose.65
Following this discovery, Tate
& Lyle arranged with Johnson & Johnson,
then the world’s
largest health care company, to develop and test
a new sweetener from chlorinated sugars. In 1980,
Johnson & Johnson formed a subsidiary company
by the name of McNeil Specialty Products for this
purpose.66 The product they created, at an impressive
600 times sweeter than sucrose, would be known as
sucralose and marketed as Splenda.
Canada became the first nation to
approve sucralose in 1991,67 soon to be followed
by many more. Currently, more than 40 nations have
given their approval to sucralose, although a number
of European nations still have it under preliminary
review.68,69,70 The new product made a grand entrance
into the US market with FDA approval in 1998. Even
though this was not full FDA approval, to quote
Splenda’s own website, the product was "approved
for use in 15 food and beverage categories, the
broadest initial approval ever given to a no-calorie
sweetener." It was only 16 months later in
1999 when the FDA finished the job and gave full
approval for all sweetening purposes.71
According to the Splenda website,
"sucralose, 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, sucralose
passes through the body without being broken down."72
Sucralose is also said to be diabetic-safe, as it
does not increase blood sugar levels. However, some
researchers dispute these claims.
While the Johnson & Johnson Corporation
claims that they have hundreds of self-conducted
studies demonstrating the product’s safety,
sucralose has the fewest independent scientific
tests to its credit of all non-nutritive sweeteners.
Additionally, independent reviewers of Johnson &
Johnson’s tests have found them to be inadequate
and methodologically flawed. Flaws notwithstanding,
several pre-approval tests still indicated potential
toxicity, although this was written off by the company
as insignificant. Similar to the situation with
aspartame after it first entered the market, there
are currently no independent, long-term studies
on the effects of sucralose consumption.73
Of the few human studies which have
been conducted, one focusing on diabetics using
sucralose showed "a statistically significant
increase in glycosylated hemoglobin (Hba1C), which
is a marker of long-term blood glucose levels and
is used to assess glycemic control in diabetic patients."
The FDA itself has stated that "increases in
glycosolation in hemoglobin imply lessening of control
in diabetes."74
It is not only diabetics who need
worry about the safety of sucralose. Research conducted
with rats, mice and rabbits has shown that sucralose
consumption can cause shrinking of the thymus gland
(up to 40 percent shrinkage), enlargement of the
liver and kidneys, atrophy of lymph follicles in
the spleen and thymus, increased cecal weight, reduced
bodily growth rate, decreased red blood cell count,
hyperplasia of the pelvis, extension of gestational
periods in pregnancy, decreased fetal body weights
and placental weights, and diarrhea. According to
the FDA’s "Final Rule" report on
sucralose, it was considered to be "weakly
mutagenic in a mouse lymphoma mutation assay."75
The reason for this host of side effects
is not fully understood. Many detractors have raised
concerns due to the fact that sucralose is a chlorinated
molecule. Chlorinated molecules, which are used
as the basis for pesticides such as DDT, tend to
accumulate in body tissues. Johnson & Johnson
maintains that sucralose passes through the digestive
system without any absorption or metabolization,
but the FDA’s own research has shown that
11 to 27 percent of sucralose is absorbed in humans,
while the rest is excreted unchanged in the feces.
Tests performed by the Japanese Food Sanitation
Council have found that as much as 40 percent of
ingested sucralose is absorbed. To further dispute
the manufacturer’s claims, research indicates
that about 20 to 30 percent of the absorbed sucralose
is metabolized. Both the metabolites and unchanged
absorbed sucralose are excreted in urine, but some
absorbed sucralose has been found to concentrate
in the liver, kidney and gastrointestinal tract.76
Not only does sucralose break down
within the digestive system, but, as the FDA notes,
"[it] may hydrolyze in some food products…[and]
the resulting hydrolysis products may also be ingested
by the consumer." Prolonged storage, particularly
at high temperatures and low pH, causes sucralose
to break down into other chemicals, including 4-chloro-4-deoxy-galactose,
1,6-dichloro-1,6-dideoxy-fructose and 1,6-dichlorofructose,
none of which has ever specifically been tested
in terms of safety for human ingestion. Additionally,
as the FDA again acknowledges, sucralose may contain
up to 2 percent of various impurities, such as heavy
metals, arsenic, triphenilphosphine oxide, methanol,
chlorinated disaccharides and chlorinated monosaccharides.
Even if these "impurities" are within
existing manufacturing guidelines, they are still
all potentially dangerous to human health.77
Sucralose production and consumption
may also pose a threat to the environment in general.
To quote from Dr. Joseph Mercola’s website
(www.mercola.com/2000/dec/3/sucralose_dangers.htm):
"Although sucralose is being flushed down toilets
[after human excretion]. . . , what happens to it
next is simply a matter for speculation. I know
of no studies showing what happens to the chemical
when the raw sewage is treated and then released
back into the environment. Does it remain stabile
or react with other substances to form new compounds?
Is the sucralose or any resulting chemicals safe
for the environment? How will this chemical affect
aquatic life such as fish, as well as other animals?
Will sucralose begin to appear in our water supplies,
just as some drugs [such as antibiotics] are beginning
to be found? . . . [Ultimately] the ecological impact
of this new chemical being introduced into the environment
is unknown."
This additional consideration of environmental
impact should also be applied to the other non-nutritive
sweeteners, as well as all synthetic foods and additives.
The burden of proving that such synthetic compounds
are safe, from the process of their creation through
the human digestive system and into our environment,
should fall upon the purveyors of these chemicals.
While no formal lists currently
exist to catalogue adverse reactions to sucralose
consumption, Dr. Mercola provides several anecdotal
incidents on his website. Clearly, sucralose consumption
poses potential hazards which have not been sufficiently
acknowledged or studied. This author recommends
against willingly acting as a guinea pig for yet
another questionable product--read on for better
options later in this article.
This article appeared in
Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing
Arts,
the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation,
Winter 2003.
References
(All web addresses were visited
on or before October, 12, 2003)
1. www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/92_adap0598.cfm
2. Ibid
3. www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/2002/ANS01156.html
4. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien
Nabors (editor)
5. www.ecit.emory.edu/ECIT/chem ram/synth/Hodgin.htm
6. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
7. www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/92_adap0598.cfm
8. http://presidiotex.com/bressler/
9. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
10. http://presidiotex.com/bressler/
11. Ibid
12. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
13. Ibid
14. www.aspartamekills.com
15. http://www.dominion-web.com/directory.Top/Society/Issues/Business/
Allegedly_Unethical_Firms/Monsanto
16. www.karinya.com/neotame.htm
17. Fallon, Sally and Enig, Mary G, PhD, Nourishing
Traditions, NewTrends Publishing, 2001, Washington,
DC.
18. www.aspartamekills.com/lydon.htm
19. www.aspartamekills.com
20. www.aspartamekills.com/lydon.htm
21. www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fdsugar.html
22. www.aspartamekills.com/lydon.htm
23. www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/summary.html
24. http://aspartametruth.com/92symptoms.html
25. www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-sweeteners.html
26. Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language:
Deluxe Encyclopedic Edition. 1991.
27. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien
Nabors (editor)
28. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
29. www.finchcms.edu/biochem/walters/sweet/history.html
30. www.ecit.emory.edu/ECIT/chem_ram/synth/Hodgin.htm
31. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
32. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
33. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien
Nabors (editor)
34. http://web1.caryacademy.org/chemistry/rushin/StudentProjects/CompoundWebSites
/2001/Saccharin/history.htm
35. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien
Nabors (editor)
36. Ibid
37. http://web1.caryacademy.org/chemistry/rushin/StudentProjects/CompoundWebSites
/2001/ Saccharin/BITTERSWEET.htm
38. www.ecit.emory.edu/ECIT/chem_ram/synth/Hodgin.htm
39. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
40. http://web1.caryacademy.org/chemistry/rushin/StudentProjects/CompoundWebSites/2001/
Saccharin/history.htm
41. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
42. http://web1.caryacademy.org/chemistry/rushin/StudentProjects/CompoundWebSites/2001/
Saccharin/BITTERSWEET.htm
43. Ibid
44. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
45. www.ecit.emory.edu/ECIT/chem_ram/synth/Hodgin.htm
46. www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/92_adap0598.cfm
47. www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-sweeteners.html
48. Ibid
49. www.mercola.com/2000/dec/3/sucralose_dangers.htm
50. www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-sweeteners.html
51. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
52. www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/92_adap0598.cfm
53. www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-sweeteners.html
54. www.ecit.emory.edu/ECIT/chem_ram/synth/Hodgin.htm
55. www.archive.hoechst.com/english_3er/publikationen/future/ernaehr/art8.html
56. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien
Nabors (editor)
57. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
58. www.archive.hoechst.com/english_3er/publikationen/future/ernaehr/art8.html
59. www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm
60. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
61. www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-sweeteners.html
62. www.ecit.emory.edu/ECIT/chem_ram/synth/Hodgin.htm
63. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien
Nabors (editor)
64. www.mercola.com/2000/dec/3/sucralose_dangers.htm
65. www.finchcms.edu/cms/biochem/walters/sweet/history.html
66. www.mercola.com/2000/dec/3/sucralose_dangers.htm
67. Ibid
68. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
69. www.mercola.com/2000/dec/3/sucralose_dangers.htm
70. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien
Nabors (editor)
71. www.splenda.com/page.jhtml?id=splenda/pressctr/pressreleases.inc
72. Ibid
73. www.mercola.com/2000/dec/3/sucralose_dangers.htm
74. Ibid
75. Ibid
76. Ibid
77. Ibid
78. Low-Calorie Sweeteners: Present and Future (from
the World Conference on Low-Calorie Sweeteners).
Antonietta Corti (editor)
79. www.nutrasweet.com/infocenter/index.asp
80. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
81. www.holisticmed.com/neotame/whatis.html
82. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien
Nabors (editor)
83. www.holisticmed.com/splenda/
84. www.finchcms.edu/cms/biochem/walters/sweet/history.html
85. www.gnc.com/health_notes/Food_Guide/Non_Nutritive_Artificial_Sweeteners.htm
86. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien
Nabors (editor)
87. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
88. www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/ANS00155.html
89. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn O’Brien
Nabors (editor)
90. www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/1992/0792DE.html
91. www.btinternet.com/~amcbryan/aspartame/comment1a.htm
92. www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/1992/0792DE.html
93. www.globalsweet.com/polyols.asp
94. www.ketofoods.com/updates/sugaralcohol_article.html
95. www.eridex.com/html/history/html
96. www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/92_adap0598.cfm
97. www.globalsweet.com/HealthyAlternatives.asp#p
98. www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/92_adap0598.cfm
99. www.drgreene.com/21_837.html
100. www.globalsweet.com/HealthyAlternatives.asp#p
101. www.daniscosweeteners.com/dsw/web/dsw/publicsite/presentation/home/
news_and_events/latest_news.html&newspath=/web/dsw/publicsite/content/news/
Stay_Cool_in_the_Summer_Heat.html
102. www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffairs/92_adap0598.cfm
103. www.ketofoods.com/updates/sugaralcohol_article.html
104. www.cspinet.org/foodsafety/labeling_sorbitol.html
105. www.ketofoods.com/updates/sugaralcohol_article.html
106. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn
O’Brien Nabors (editor)
107. www.tagatose.com/whatis.html
108. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition, Lyn
O’Brien Nabors (editor)
109. Ibid
110. Low-Calorie Sweeteners: Present and Future
(from the World Conference on Low-Calorie Sweeteners).
Atonietta Corti (editor)
111. www.chemopharma.com/citrosa.htm
112. Information taken from a personal e-mail exchange
with Overseal Color, Inc.
113. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn
O’Brien Nabors (editor)
114. Information taken from Wisdom Natural Brands
stevia product brochures
115. www.gene.ch/gentech/1998/May-Jul/msg00060.html
116. Wisdom Natural Brands stevia product brochures
117. www.emperorsherbologist.com/steviahist.shtml
118. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn
O’Brien Nabors (editor)
119. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn
O’Brien Nabors (editor)
120. "Lo Han: A Natural Sweetener Comes of
Age," Whole Foods, June 2003, by Peilin Guo
and Dallas Clouatre.
121. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn
O’Brien Nabors (editor)
122. www.chifaisgourmet.com/CFLoHanpage.htm
123. "Lo Han: A Natural Sweetener Comes of
Age," Whole Foods, June 2003, by Peilin Guo
and Dallas Clouatre.
124. http://members.shaw.ca/duncancrow/inulin_probiotic.html
125. Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn
O’Brien Nabors (editor)
126. http://members.shaw.ca/duncancrow/inulin_probiotic.html
References Corresponding to
Better Options Addendum
112- www.overseal.co.uk/talin3.htm
113- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn
O’Brien Nabors (editor)
114- http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/msad14sep98_1.htm
115- www.dsharma.org/biotech/bitter.htm
116- Information taken from a personal e-mail exchange
with Overseal Color, Inc.
117- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn
O’Brien Nabors (editor)
118- www.emperorsherbologist.com/steviahist.shtml
119- Information taken from Wisdom Natural Brands
stevia product brochures
120- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn
O’Brien Nabors (editor)
121- www.gene.ch/gentech/1998/May-Jul/msg00060.html
122- Information taken from Wisdom Natural Brands
stevia product brochures
123- www.wisdomherbs.com/faq/stevioside.htm
124- Information taken from Wisdom Natural Brands
stevia product brochures
125- www.emperorsherbologist.com/steviahist.shtml
126- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn
O’Brien Nabors (editor)
127- "Sinfully Sweet?" article from New
Age Journal, Jan/Feb. 1996, by Linda and Bill Bonvie.
Available online at www.stevia.net/newagesweet.htm
128- ibid
129- ibid
130- www.emperorsherbologist.com/steviahist.shtml
131- "Sinfully Sweet?" article from New
Age Journal, Jan./Feb. 1996, by Linda and Bill Bonvie.
Available online at www.stevia.net/newagesweet.htm
132- www.gene.ch/gentech/1998/May-Jul/msg00060.html
133- "Sinfully Sweet?" article from New
Age Journal, Jan./Feb. 1996, by Linda and Bill Bonvie.
Available online at www.stevia.net/newagesweet.htm
134- "Lo Han: A Natural Sweetener Comes of
Age" article from Whole Foods, June 2003, by
Peilin Guo and Dallas Clouatre.
135- "Sinfully Sweet?" article from New
Age Journal, Jan./Feb. 1996, by Linda and Bill Bonvie.
Available online at www.stevia.net/newagesweet.htm
136- www.emperorsherbologist.com/steviahist.shtml
137- "Sinfully Sweet?" article from New
Age Journal, Jan./Feb. 1996, by Linda and Bill Bonvie.
Available online at www.stevia.net/newagesweet.htm
138- www.panda.fi/engl/licorice.htm
139- www.holisticmed.com/sweet/sweet.txt
140- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn
O’Brien Nabors (editor)
141- Ibid
142- www.preparedfoods.com/literature/0006/mafco.htm
143- "Lo Han: A Natural Sweetener Comes of
Age" article from Whole Foods, June 2003, by
Peilin Guo and Dallas Clouatre.
144- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn
O’Brien Nabors (editor)
145- www.chifaisgourmet.com/CFLoHanpage.htm
146- "Lo Han: A Natural Sweetener Comes of
Age" article from Whole Foods, June 2003, by
Peilin Guo and Dallas Clouatre.
147- www.chifaisgourmet.com/CFLoHanpage.htm
148- "Lo Han: A Natural Sweetener Comes of
Age" article from Whole Foods, June 2003, by
Peilin Guo and Dallas Clouatre.
149- www.ketofoods.com/updates/sugaralcohol_article.html
150- www.dainet.de/fnr/ctvo/byproducts/heming_hbi.doc
151- www.supplementwatch.com/supatoz/supplement.asp?supplementID=152
152- http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_glycerin.html#sweet
153- www.aubrey-organics.com/about/dictionary/v_diction.cfm
154- http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_glycerin.html#sweet
155- www.dainet.de/fnr/ctvo/byproducts/heming_hbi.doc
156- www.getbig.com/articles/nutritionbars.htm
157- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn
O’Brien Nabors (editor)
158- http://members.shaw.ca/duncancrow/inulin_probiotic.html
159- ibid
160- www.vitaminretailer.com/VR/articles/Probiotics.htm
161- http://members.shaw.ca/duncancrow/inulin_probiotic.html
162- ibid
163- Alternative Sweeteners, Third Edition. Lyn
O’Brien Nabors (editor)
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