The Commercial Court of Paris has found that advertising claims used by McNeil Nutritionals, the marketers of the artificial sweetener Splenda, violate French consumer protection laws. They ruled that Splenda's advertising slogans, such as "Because it comes from sugar, sucralose tastes like sugar," are misleading to consumers, and have ordered McNeil to stop using them.

The case was brought against French subsidiaries of McNeil Nutritionals by the competing artificial sweetener firm Merisant. The court awarded Merisant 40,000 Euros in damages.

McNeil was given 30 days to amend all packaging of Splenda in France. The Court also prohibited the distribution of any products in the old packaging after a period of four months.

The ruling came just one day before a similar case between Merisant and McNeil in the United States resulted in an undisclosed settlement agreement that concluded a three-year court battle between the two companies. McNeil also faces a similar case in the United States brought by the Sugar Association, due to go to trial in November.

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

Just as makers of Splenda settled their U.S. lawsuit with Merisant Co. (which produces Equal), their claim that their product comes from, and tastes like, sugar has been banned in France. Although French authorities have probably fined McNeil considerably less than Merisant received in the U.S. settlement, in France they must stop all their false advertising claims and reconfigure all consumer packaging.

If you're still on the fence regarding the non-safety of Splenda and other artificial sweeteners, do your health a favor by reviewing my book Sweet Deception. It uncovers dozens of major deceptions that the manufacturers of artificial sweeteners, especially Splenda, have been pulling on the public.

About 200 studies have been done on Splenda, although most are not even published. However, 98 percent of the studies done on Splenda were paid for by the manufacturer, with predictable results.

And even if you believe those very likely biased studies, Splenda has never been studied for more than six months in any human trial -- and even those ONLY looked at blood sugar control.

Hundreds of millions of people are serving as human guinea pigs for a product that has NEVER had a long-term human safety trial. But believe me, as alarming as this information is, it is only the tiny tip of the iceberg.

Related Articles:

Splenda is Not a 'Healthy' Sweetener

Controversy Surrounding Splenda's Deceptive Marketing Campaign

Beware of Splenda's Latest Marketing Ploy