Cancer Institute report, court cases sour Splenda's image

Lisa Marshall, Scripps Howard News Service

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

The past month has been a rough one for the makers of Splenda.

On April 3, the consumer advocacy group Citizens for Health asked the Food and Drug Administration to revoke its approval of the popular sweetener, citing consumer complaints of adverse side-effects, such as stomach pains and rashes.

Days earlier, a federal court dismissed a suit by Splenda-marketer McNeil Nutritionals. The suit had accused the trade group, the Sugar Association, of false advertising related to its Splenda-bashing Web site, thetruthaboutsplenda.com.

Meanwhile, presses rolled with news of a new National Cancer Institute study concluding that aspartame (the sweetener in Equal and other products) does not increase the risk of certain kinds of cancer, as earlier reports had suggested.

The criticisms were enough to make Splenda spokesman Michael Beckerich downright sour: "The inaccuracies being put out there are a great disservice to the millions of people who safely use Splenda every day," Beckerich said. "We will vigorously defend the brand through all the appropriate channels."

But the news was also enough to give a calorie-counting sweet-tooth pause before grabbing for that next little pink, or blue, or yellow packet. Are sugar substitutes safe after all? Are some safer than others? Depending on who you ask, the answers are widely different.

Lisa High, a registered dietitian in Boulder, says she's not convinced by company and FDA claims that the products are safe, so she tells clients to steer clear of them, in favor of natural sweeteners like stevia, an herb, and xylitol, a plant extract.

"They are chemicals. I don't know what they are doing on a cellular level and we don't have tests to show us," High says. "Just because you can't see the effects right away doesn't mean it is safe," says Malena Perdomo, a certified diabetes educator.

Because the body doesn't respond to artificial sweeteners as carbohydrates, they are particularly helpful to diabetics who must carefully watch their blood-sugar levels, she says. She believes they are safe, in reasonable doses.

Attorney James S. Turner, chairman of the board for Citizens for Health and a longtime critic of artificial sweeteners, said the group filed its petition with the FDA after hearing numerous reports by phone and on web sites of "mild to severe gastrointestinal problems in conjunction with consuming Splenda." Turner also takes issue with Splenda's marketing campaign, which states that it is "made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar."

"This is a chlorine-treated carbohydrate," Turner said.

Clearly, the jury is still out on safety, but there is no doubt that Americans are gobbling up sweeteners, nonetheless. The Calorie Control Council, estimates 180 million Americans age 18 and older consume low-calorie/sugar-free foods and beverages - nearly double the number a decade ago.