The Splenda "zero-calorie" lie

2021-08-28

A. Splenda is the same for your body as regular sugar.

Splenda is an artificial sweetener that is marketed as "zero-calorie" in the USA.

I am diabetic and like so many diabetics I fell for this Splenda scam.
I call it a scam, because that is what it is imo.

I bought Splenda to use it instead of sugar, because it is allegedly "safe for diabetics"
Imagine my surprise when I noticed that Splenda didn't make any difference at all.
It is just as bad for my blood glucose measurements as regular sugar.

According to Tate & Lyle's website, sucralose is a synthesized sugar that (allegedly) cannot be metabolized by the human body. As such it would be a true no-calorie sweetener.

They also claim that sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sucrose from which it is manufactured.
Other sources quote a 1000 to 1 ratio.

1. The large bags of Splenda (1 lb. and over) list only 2 ingredients: maltodextrin and sucralose.

At 600 times, 1 gram of sucralose is added to 599 grams of a flavorless additive (maltodextrin). to make 600 grams Splenda For one kilo, that is 1.7 grams of sucralose and 998.3 grams maltodextrin = 0.17% of the total weight.
At 1000 times, it would be 1 gram sucralose to 999 grams maltodextrin = 0.1% of total weight.
Either way, the amount of sucralose is negligible weight-wise.
Maltodextrin is quickly broken down in the body into glucose. ^(*)
Glucose is the sugar that causes so many problems for diabetics.
In other words, eating maltodextrin is the same for your body as eating regular sugar, and it will cause an identical blood glucose spike.

2. The 1 gram sachets list TWO additives: dextrose and maltodextrin.

Dextrose is just another name for glucose. ^(**)
It is listed before maltodextrin, which means that more than half of the package is pure glucose.
Because glucose is already sweet by itself, it is quite likely that there is even less sucralose in the sachets than in the large bags. (less than 0.1%, if any at all?)

3. Splenda is 99.9% (or more) pure sugar for the human body. This explains why:

The use of Splenda instead of regular sugar does not result in long-term weight-loss.
Splenda has the same effect on a diabetic's blood sugar measurements as regular sugar.

b. the "zero-calorie" lie

How can the manufacturer market Splenda as a "no-calorie" product?

They get away with it through a misleading marketing trick.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows any product containing fewer than five calories per serving to be labeled as "zero calories" even when it is clearly not.

All the manufacturer has to do is to claim that one serving is 1 gram or less.

That is exactly what Splenda does:
one serving is 0.5 gram on the big bags at Walmart & Sam's Club.
Other packaging (sachets, ...) lists one serving = 2 tsp. = 1 gram.
They also claim that the total carb content of that one serving is less than 1 gram.

D'OH.
Of course, half a gram of Splenda has less than one gram of sugar.

Half a gram of Splenda (or sugar) has a 2 calories, which is less than the FDA 5 calories per-serving limit. As a result, Splenda can be marketed as a "zero-calorie" product, when for the body it is anything but.

What is wrong here of course, that somehow the manufacturer got away with claiming that 1 serving of Splenda is either half a gram (large bags) or 1 gram (sachets.)

By the same reasoning,

Pure sugar and pure protein could be marketed as a zero-calorie product by claiming that serving size is one gram or less. (4 calories per gram)
Pure fat which has 8-9 calories per gram could be marketed as zero-calorie by claiming one serving is half a gram or less.

This marketing trick is of course a blatant misrepresentation of reality.

The manufacturer even goes so far as to claim that Splenda is not a significant source of sugars.
The manufacturer's claim that this product is "safe for diabetics" is just as true as a claim that sugar is safe for diabetics, meaning not at all.

Legally, courtesy of an unreasonable FDA definition, sugar could be marketed "zero-calorie" and "not a significant source of sugar" as long as you define one serving as one gram or less AND you don't eat more than one serving a day.

Diabetics know very well that the reality is very different. Sugar is the great killer for diabetics. Because Splenda is 100% sugar, replacing sugar with Splenda could result in serious health problems for the diabetic who trusts this marketing scam.

Yet legally, this may be permissible because of this weird FDA 'zero-calorie" definition.

In reality, ONE SERVING of Splenda is a lot more than 1 gram in most circumstances.

We all have seen those people who take 3 or 4 sachets of Splenda (or sugar, or other artificial sweeteners) and dump them all in a single cup of coffee. I know, I live with someone who does that every day and she is diabetic too. I used to do it myself too, but can no longer afford to do so with my difficult-to-control diabetes.
The Splenda packaging I have shows 3 recipes. Two of them use 6 grams of Splenda per serving. (see Pic8+9 below)
The manufacturer acknowledges on their own website in dozens of their recipes that they often use considerably more than half a gram or even one gram per serving, especially for baking and drinks where recipes often convert to 5-10 grams of Splenda per listed serving.
This means the manufacturer knowingly misrepresents the real-life use of Splenda, just so they could continue their scam of "zero-calorie" marketing.
The "Great Value" bags at Walmart use the same misrepresentations. They list one serving is 0.5 gram, but state explicitly on the back "great for cooking and baking" The 2 recipes on that bag also use considerably more 'sucralose' per serving than the alleged half gram one-serving size.

C. IN CONCLUSION:

By (falsely) claiming that the serving size of Splenda is either half a gram or one gram, a product that is 99.9% sugars, can be marketed in the US as a "zero-calorie" product.
Real-life use of Splenda is a lot more than the alleged half a gram or one gram, as even the manufacturer acknowledges in the recipes on Splenda packaging and on their website.
The amount of sucralose, the only no-calorie ingredient in Splenda, is negligible. Splenda is 99.9% additives (glucose, maltodextrin) that either are glucose or convert to glucose in the human body.
For metabolic purposes, Splenda is no different than regular sugar. The glycemic reaction to Splenda is the same as for regular sugar, meaning that Splenda is not by any real-life standard "safe for diabetics."
The only diabetic-safe application of sucralose consistent in real-life with their "zero-calorie" and "safe for diabetics" marketing would be either a watery solution or a powdered solution with additives that do not generate a glycemic response.

documentation Splenda:

Pic1: front of package

Pic2: fake nutrition "facts"
less than 1 gram sugar ==> zero calories

Pic3: one-to-one equivalency

Pic4: back of package

Pic5: sachet - fake nutrition "facts"
serving size 1 gram,
added ingredients: dextrose, maltodextrin
added sugars <1 gram

Pic6: powdered sugar label
serving size = 30 grams, 120 calories

two recipes from the back of the package.

The manufacturer's website https://www.splenda.com/recipe-index/ has dozens more of similar recipes that demonstrate the same pattern over and over again: Splenda use per serving is a lot more than than the advertised 1 or 2 tsp. per serving.

Pic8: iced tea recipe

Pic9: lemonade recipe

COMMENTS WITH Pictures 8 + 9:

Conversion for US volume measures: 1 cup equals 48 tsp.
Both recipes uses 2 cups = 96 tsp. for 8 servings.
This corresponds to 12 tsp. per servings
= 6 grams of Splenda per serving
= 12 times more than the declared 0.5 grams per serving.
6 grams of Splenda = 24 calories,
- This is 96% of the calorie load of the ice tea.
- This is 80% of the calorie load of the lemonade.

Pic10: detail of the back of the package

Manufacturer's false and/or misleading statements:

In some recipes, Splenda Zero Calorie Sweetener may contribute minimal calories.
This is an explicit acknowledgment of the "Zero-calorie" lie.
In reality, this contribution of calories (96% or 80% as above) is not at all "minimal" but exactly the same as for regular sugar.
In both of these 2 recipes, the contributed 24 calories is more than 1% of DV for a 2,000 cal. diet.
Suitable for people with diabetes
Splenda is no more suitable for diabetics than pure sugar. It IS 99.9% pure sugar.

documentation Walmart "Great Value" product:

These are the 'generic' bags sold at Walmart. The packaging states "distributed by Walmart" which makes me suspect that the manufacturer is Tate & Lyle, or one of its US licensees.

The wordage is nearly identical to the Splenda packaging, one serving = 0.5 gram, but the main recommendation on the front of the package is "great for baking."

The recipes on the back of the package are not included in the Tate & Lyle reicpe page, but they appear to be Americanized versions os very similar recipes with all the ingredients "Walmartized."

In addition to the questionable Splenda wordage, Walmart misrepresents this product as being sucralose in its conversion chart, when the sucralose content is less than 2 tenths of a percent.

Pic11: "Great Value" front

Pic12: the back of the package

Pic13: "great for cooking and baking"
misrepresentation as 'sucralose'

Pic14: fake nutrition "facts"

Pic15: banana bread recipe

Pic16: cherry pie recipe

The 2 recipes on the back of this package also use considerably more product per serving than the declared one serving size of 0.5 grams.

Pic15: banana bread uses 1 cup (48 tsp.) for 12 servings
= 4 tbsp. or 2 grams per serving
= 8 times more than the declared 0.5 grams per serving.

Pic16: cherry pie uses 1 cup (48 tsp.) for 8 servings
= 6 tbsp. or 3 grams per serving
= 12 times more than the declared 0.5 grams per serving.

This demonstrates once more that the declared 0.5 grams per serving is nonsensical.

FOOTNOTES:

^{(*)
article: Is Maltodextrin a Sugar? (source)

Maltodextrin does not taste sweet.
Maltodextrin is a highly processed food additive with a high glycemic index; hence, its consumption can cause an instant spike in the blood sugar level. Individuals with diabetes must make a note of this.

(**)
Dextrose aka D-glucose is the naturally occurring form of glucose in humans a.o. higher organisms. L-glucose can be synthesized in a lab, but cannot be processed by the human body, L-Glucose was once proposed as a true no-calorie sweetener and it is suitable for patients with diabetes mellitus, but it was never marketed due to excessive manufacturing costs.
This 'renaming' is quite common in food labeling and its purpose is to confuse and mislead the consumer.
When MSG started getting a bad name, food companies started giving it a bunch of other names to hide it away in the ingredients listings: monosodium salt, monohydrate, monosodium glutamate, monosodium glutamate monohydrate, monosodium L-glutamate monohydrate, MSG monohydrate, sodium glutamate monohydrate, UNII-W81N5U6R6U, L-Glutamic acid, monosodium salt, monohydrate, autolyzed yeast autolyzed yeast protein, calcium glutamate, glutamate, glutamic acid, hydrolyzed corn, ingredients listed as hydrolyzed, protein fortified, ultra-pasteurized, fermented, or enzyme modified, magnesium glutamate, monoammonium glutamate, monopotassium glutamate, natural flavors, soy isolate, soy sauce, textured protein, vegetable extract, yeast extract , yeast food.}