Article: Neotame and Splenda
Neotame and Splenda
by: Dr. Janet Starr Hull, Ph.D., CN
http://www.sweetpoison.com/newsletter/
It appears Splenda is fighting for the lead in the alternative
sweetener race. It will be interesting to see if Neotame pushes
Splenda out of contention as aspartame's dangers are becoming
more
renown, and saccharin is back in the competition.
Neotame has changed hands from its original patent holder, Monsanto
Chemical Company, to The NutraSweet Co. to J. W. Childs Partnership
to Pharmacia, and now to Pfizer if Pharmacia's buy out is successful.
Neotame
Neotame contains all the dangerous elements found in aspartame
and
more: the amino acids L-aspartic acid and L-phenylalanine, plus
two
organic functional groups, one known as a methyl ester group and
the
other as a neohexyl group. These components are joined together
to
form an incredibly sweet (13,000 times sweeter than sugar) and
potentially dangerous compound.
The FDA was petitioned in 1997 to approve neotame for use as
a
tabletop sweetener. It's approval for public use was announced
in
October, 2002 to be used in chewing gum, carbonated soft drinks,
refrigerated and non-refrigerated ready-to-drink beverages, frozen
desserts and novelties, puddings and fillings, yogurt-type products,
baked goods, and candies. Neotame does not have to carry the PKU
warning, as aspartame is required by law to do, so its addition
to
all products can go without warning.
Sucralose (Splenda)
Sucralose (trichlorogalactosucrose) was approved by the FDA in
1988 as a tabletop sweetener and for use in a number of desserts,
confections, and nonalcoholic beverages. Sucralose is produced
by
chlorinating sucrose (sugar); three chlorine atoms are substituted
for three hydroxyl groups. According to Consumers Research Magazine,
some concern was initially raised about sucralose being a chlorinated
molecule, as chlorinated molecules also serve as the basis for
pesticides such as D.D.T., accumulate in body fat, and are considered
to be carcinogens. However, the manufacturer Johnson & Johnson
has emphasized that "sucralose passes through the body unabsorbed."
Research animals fed sucralose exhibited the following symptoms:
shrunken thymus glands (up to 40% shrinkage), enlarged liver and
kidneys, atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus,
reduced growth rate, decreased red blood cell count, hyperplasia
of the pelvis, extension of the pregnancy period, aborted pregnancy,
decreased fetal body weights and placental weights, and chronic
diarrhea.
In the midst of the continued controversy over aspartame, many
pharmaceutical and health food manufacturers - Pro Lab, Twin Lab
and Ross Products, makers of Pedialyte - have switched to sucralose.
In this ever-continuing web of confusion over which chemical
sweeteners are safe to use, it might be best to return to natural
sweeteners and let the lab rats fight it out for you!
