In today's eHealthy News You Can Use, I caution you about eating pineapple -- touted to be a natural preventative for cancer -- because when you consume a natural product after it's been highly processed, it may not work the way it was intended and could worsen your health. Here's one good reason to be careful: Splenda is now being used to sweeten canned fruit.
NTC Marketing, the U.S. company that produces the Libby's line of pineapple and tropical fruit salad, had been test-marketing Splenda-laced canned fruit products to raves in Wegmans Food Markets in Western New York. Now, NTC has rolled out those products nationwide, with an eye for adding more, but only if Tate & Lyle, the U.K. mastermind behind Splenda, increases its allotment of the chlorocarbon chemical.
According to a NTC spokesman, Splenda has become a popular brand that attracts customers who wouldn't typically buy one of their "unsweetened" fruit products. Makes you wonder if food manufacturers or the FDA ever really do their homework about the toxic chemicals used in processed food products...
Just as a reminder, Splenda -- a chlorinated chemical that's anything but natural -- has been linked to a number of toxic side effects:
- Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40 percent).
- Enlarged liver and kidneys.
- Reduced growth rate.
- Aborted pregnancies.
- Diarrhea.
If you still don't believe Splenda has the potential to cause you great harm, I encourage you to review my extensive testimonials pages. The pages are filled with heartbreaking stories about the toxic effects this artificial sweetener may inflict.
Buffalo News August 1, 2005