SPLENDA FAQs about tooth decay, pregnancy, chlorine, etc

Q: Is SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener made from sugar?
A: Sucralose, or SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener, is made from a patented multi-step process that begins with sugar (sucrose). Three hydrogen-oxygen groups on the sugar molecule are replaced with three chlorine atoms. Although the process for making sucralose begins with sugar, sucralose is not sugar and is not broken down for energy. This is why it has no calories.

Q: Is SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener natural?
A: No, sucralose, the no calorie sweetener used in the SPLENDA® Sweetener Products is not natural. Although the process for making sucralose begins with sugar, sucralose is not sugar, but tastes like sugar. Sucralose is also not broken down for energy, so it has none of sugar’s calories.

Q: Will consuming SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener cause me to gain weight?
A: No. No calorie sweeteners (such as SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener) can help you decrease calorie intake when used to replace sugar. In fact, the use of no-calorie sweetener products to help decrease caloric intake in conjunction with regular physical activity can help with weight management.

A recent small study done in 27 rats using saccharin ("A Role for Sweet Taste: Calorie Predictive Relations in Energy Regulation by Rats") alleges a link between low-calorie sweetener consumption and weight gain. However this study needs to be considered in the proper scientific context, especially since there are many other previously published research studies in humans that reached the opposite conclusion. In fact, a 2007 study published in Pediatrics®, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, found that using sucralose (SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener) or sucralose sweetened beverages as part of an effort to decrease caloric intake by 100 calories per day, and to increase physical activity by 2000 steps per day helped to maintain and lower body mass index in the overweight children from the 111 families who participated in the "Families on the Move" program. It is important that the cause of obesity is not over-simplified, as it has many origins.

Q: SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener contains chlorine. Is that safe?
A: Yes, this is why every regulatory agency that has considered sucralose has approved it for use as a food ingredient.

Chlorine is an element in daily life. It is a component of more complex molecules found in a number of foods (such as mushrooms, potatoes, peas, and lentils) and is a component of common everyday table salt. In the case of sucralose, chlorine is used to modify the structure of the sugar to produce the exceptionally stable no calorie sweetener, sucralose. There is no cause for concern about the safety of sucralose due to the presence of chlorine. Extensive research shows sucralose to be safe for use by everyone. Additionally, sucralose does not accumulate in the body and is not broken down in the body to release free chlorine or smaller chlorinated molecules. In fact, it is the presence of the chlorine atoms that prevents sucralose from being broken down in the body for energy, thus making sucralose non-caloric. And it is also the presence of the chlorine atoms that gives sucralose such great stability in cooking and baking. The availability of sucralose has widely increased our choices of enjoyable, lower-sugar, lower-calorie foods and beverages.

Q: What other foods contain chlorine?
A: A number of foods contain quite complex naturally occurring molecules that contain chlorine. Chlorine is also an element naturally present in many of the foods and beverages that we eat and drink every day. It is added to most public water supplies and is found in foods such as lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, melons, peanut butter, and table salt.

Q: Is chlorine released in the body?
A: No. The chlorine in sucralose does not come free. Instead, it stays attached to sucralose, which is largely unabsorbed and quickly eliminated from the body. The presence of the chlorine atoms in sucralose is what prevents it from being broken down in the body for energy, thus making sucralose non-caloric.

Q: Why not just use sugar?
A: Sucralose is a helpful alternative for people who wish to reduce their sugar or caloric intake. Sucralose is calorie-free, because even though it is derived from a carbohydrate, it is not a carbohydrate and is not broken down in the body for energy. So it may be enjoyed on a variety of diet plans. Numerous scientific studies show that sucralose can be used safely by people with diabetes because it has no effect on either blood glucose control or insulin secretion.

Q: Is SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener safe for children?
A: SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener can be used safely by children. The FDA approved the use of sucralose for the general population, including children. The safety data supporting FDA approval include a number of studies scientifically designed to serve as surrogates for studies in children, which show that sucralose has no adverse effects on growth or development. SPLENDA® Sweetener Products may also be helpful in managing children’s weight. A recent family study showed that a lifestyle change program consisting of simple, small diet and exercise changes, with the dietary changes focused on reducing sugar intake by use of products containing SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener, can help overweight children prevent additional weight gain.

Q: Can women who are pregnant or nursing use SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener or other products with SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener?
A: Yes, the FDA has approved the use of sucralose for the general population and imposed no restrictions on its consumption by pregnant women and nursing mothers. SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener may be used as part of a healthy prenatal and postnatal diet.

Q: Is SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener absorbed by the body?
A: The vast majority of sucralose is not absorbed and passes through the body unchanged. Some sucralose is passively absorbed but is not broken down for energy, so it has no calories. The small amount of sucralose that is absorbed passes very quickly through the body and is excreted in the urine. There is no accumulation of sucralose in the body.

Q: Will there be cumulative effects on my body if I consume a variety of products that contain SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener in one day?
A: No, sucralose has been tested at extremely high doses in long-term studies without any adverse health consequences. These doses are far in excess of the amount normally consumed in the daily diet. Moreover, sucralose does not accumulate in the body. It is highly water soluble and passes through the body without being broken down for energy.

Q: Does SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener cause tooth decay?
A: No, sucralose, or SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener, does not cause cavities. Although sucralose is made from a process that begins with sugar, it is not a carbohydrate, and studies show that it is not used as a nutrient source by the oral bacteria that cause tooth decay.

Q: I have heard that sucralose can cause damage to the liver, kidneys and the thymus gland. Is this true?
A: No, the results of numerous studies demonstrate that sucralose does not adversely affect the body or specific organs, such as the liver, kidney or thymus gland. Health and regulatory agencies around the world have thoroughly evaluated these studies and concluded that sucralose is safe for use in the general population.

Q: What happens to sucralose when it is released into the environment via the sewage system?
A: Environmental studies show that sucralose, the sweetening ingredient in all SPLENDA® Sweetener Products, can be broken down by micro-organisms present in the soil and poses no risk to the environment. The food additive petition submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by McNeil Nutrtionals, LLC, contained an extensive environmental assessment on sucralose, including studies with freshwater plant and animal species, which showed that sucralose would have no adverse envrionmental effects. The FDA agreed, and concluded that sucralose would have no significant impact on the environment.

Q: Can people with diabetes use SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener?
A: Yes. Numerous studies have shown that SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener, or sucralose, the sweetening ingredient in SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener, is suitable for people with diabetes. Sucralose is not recognized by the body as sugar or as a carbohydrate. It is not metabolized by the body for energy and does not affect blood glucose levels. Sucralose has no effect on carbohydrate metabolism or insulin secretion. Other ingredients in SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener products, which are added to give necessary volume and texture, add only a very small amount of carbohydrate per serving. These are common carbohydrates (maltodextrin and/or dextrose) and are the same type of carbohydrates used in other no calorie sweeteners. They contribute less than 5 calories per serving, which, when used in moderation, (4 packets or 8 tsp. granulated) is considered a free food by the American Diabetes Association.

Q: How much sucralose can I safely consume?
A: The average expected intake of sucralose (over a life-time of use) is 1.3 mg per kg of bodyweight per day. The maximum expected daily intake is 2.4 mg/kg of bodyweight per day. FDA has set the acceptable average daily intake level at 5 mg/kg of bodyweight per day, and other regulatory agencies around the world have set the average acceptable daily intake level as high as 15 mg/kg of bodyweight per day. As a matter of course, regulatory agencies set average acceptable daily intake levels for new food ingredients at levels approximately 100 times below levels found safe in representative animal species, to further assure safety. In representative species, sucralose has been found safe, with effectively life-time consumption, in amounts equivalent in sweetness to over 40 pounds of sugar per day for the average adult.

Q: What are maltodextrin and dextrose and why are they added to SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener? Are those ingredients safe?
A: Maltodextrin is made from the enzymatic breakdown of common starch, a carbohydrate-storage molecule found in hundreds of edible plants we eat every day; things like corn, rice, and potatoes. The maltodextrin in SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener products is made from common corn starch. Maltodextrin molecules are readily broken down to yield molecules of dextrose, which are the basic building blocks of maltodextrin. Dextrose is also known as glucose, which is the body's main source of energy. Glucose is also synthesized naturally in the body.

Both maltodextrin and dextrose are common and safe food ingredients. They give SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener products needed form and texture. This is desirable because, like all high-intensity sweeteners, only a very little sucralose, the no-calorie sweetening ingredient in all SPLENDA® Sweetener Products, is needed to achieve desired sweetness. Thus, the presence of maltodextrin and dextrose adds necessary volume, so SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener Products sweeten, measure and pour more like sugar, but without all of sugar's calories or carbohydrates. For the same reasons, maltodextrin and dextrose are ingredients present in all other major retail no calorie sweeteners.

Q: Are there any gastrointestinal side effects associated with SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener?
A: No, studies show that sucralose has no effect on the gastrointestinal (GI) system, does not accumulate in the body, and is excreted quickly. Sucralose is largely unabsorbed (in humans, about 85% is unabsorbed), and is excreted in the feces unchanged. The small amount that is absorbed is distributed to essentially all tissues and is excreted relatively rapidly, almost entirely as unchanged sucralose, in the urine. Sucralose is not a substrate for gut flora; thus GI side effects like those sometimes found with some unabsorbed, but fermentable substances (e.g. sugar alcohols), do not occur. Finally, because so little sucralose is consumed by its use as a sweetener (sucralose is approximately 600 times sweeter than sugar), it is highly improbable that sucralose would have any osmotic effect in the GI tract.

Q: How does the consumption of sucralose affect insulin secretion?
A: Studies both in persons without and persons with diabetes show that sucralose does not effect either insulin secretion or blood levels in the body and sucralose has no effect on overall blood glucose control.

Q: Will the substitution of no calorie sweeteners, such as SPLENDA®, No Calorie Sweetener products, for sugar cause users to gain weight?
A: No. In contrast, no calorie sweeteners have been shown in clinical trials to help people lower their caloric intake, and lose and manage weight. Sucralose has also been shown to be useful for weight management in overweight children, when used in a lifestyle change program including an increase in physical activity, through increased walking by an additional 2000 steps per day, and a (100 calorie/day) decrease in calorie intake, in part by decreasing sugar intake through use of products containing sucralose, the sweetening ingredient in SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener.