Amy wonders: "I have at least one packet of Splenda a day, usually more like 3 or 4. And their new spray Splenda goes in my iced tea, at like 3 spritzes per glass. I am sort of addicted to it. Is it slowly killing me?
Sucralose (Splenda) as well as aspartame and others, are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the Food and Drug Administration. Still, so was cyclamate until it was banned. How do you feel about making substances with a relatively short culinary track record part of your diet? Sort of like a guinea pig?Any time you want to ask science questions, your fellow readers are here to answer. Email fyi@popsci.com.
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.


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My question is, until a few years ago sweet'n low packets all carried a cancer warning (something to the tune of "this chemical has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals") but now that warning is gone. did they change the chemical sweetener in anyway suddenly making it safe?
I've been hearing a lot about stevia (a naturally sweet plant) and the commercial derivatives now on the market (Truvia and PureVia). The U.S. had banned it for a while unless it was labeled as a supplement and it was relegated to the crunchy health stores.
I'm still on the fence on whether or not I think it's safe. On the one hand, it seems to be a more "natural" product than other sweeteners, but on the other, plenty of plants are harmful.
For now, I'm sticking with regular ol' sugar. Calories and all...
We have been using sugar for few years now without any major side effects; so if you are really worried, "if splenda is slowly killing you" just use regular old sugar. It might add a few calories to your daily intake, but at least you won't have to worry about it turning into a tumor.
Splenda is very bad for me. I am alergic to nothing and never get sick. I never get infections of any kind and think nothing of using super glue to close a wound without seeking medical attention. Even poison ivy or poison oak doesn't bother me.
However, If I eat anything with Splenda in it, I will get migrane headaches that make me wish I was dead.
Splenda is bad news and I avoid it completely.
What does sugar add to your diet? 5 calories, omg that's going to kill me. That is so horrible. Eat sugar enjoy and oh yeah aspartame is a proven carcinogen in mice. Oh yeah and one more thing these artificial sweeteners are so sweet they can numb the sweet sensors on your tongue.
http://www.nerdherd.ucoz.com/
Another crazy example of people treating the symptoms and not the problem. Too much sugar is bad - too much of a sugar substitute is even worse. You have high blood sugar because you eat too much sweets, not because the sweetener you use is sucrose instead of sucralose.
It's not the Splenda that's killing you, it's the high fructose corn syrup. Splenda isn't even digested; as an artificial sweetner, we're lucky to have it. The sooner it replaces aspartame the better. But we've gone ahead and put corn syrup in EVERYTHING, and just now we're starting to do the math about what that stuff does to you.
I think people freak out too much about sugar. I think it's better for you than the altered sweeteners. Sure it might have more calories, but Splenda has them too, the maltodextrin is a filler and contains most of the calories. The FDA just says that if it's under a certain amount of calories it can be labeled as no calories. Look it up if you don't believe me! I stick with sugar, and just pay attention to what I'm eating, like everyone should.
OMG! The sweetener does slowly kill you! If they had a warning on it before, there is practicly no way that they found a way to have it not cause cancer. They removed it because no one reads it, but it still can cause cancer.
What I don't understand is why do you people even use it? Scared sugar will make you wider than you're tall? You can have a soup soon of it every day and you wont change. What does make you fat is a poor diet and lack of any activities.
Drop this suacide powder!
"Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time."
-George Carlin
Sweet'n Low was eventually proven to give cancel only if a human had consumed a rail box car full or more. There might have been some Business dirty play in this one.
Aspartame should not be on any market. It will cause tumors possibly cancerous in the brain and also will cause massive stomach problems. This was proven in two Italian collage studies a few years ago. They also found many abnormalities with the testing procedures with Aspartame.
There are more studies out there about the use of artificial sweeteners that would knock your socks off. You might try looking these up to find out more.