In early studies of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), it was shown to be most prevalent in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States and those in northern Europe. However, studies in recent years have suddenly found that Canada has become the country with the highest incidence of IBD.
A paper published in the Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology theorized that the cause of the increase could be impaired inactivation of digestive proteases due to the inhibition of gut bacteria by dietary chemicals, such as saccharin. However, saccharin fails to provide an explanation for the recent high incidence of IBD in Canada, which adopted stringent standards for the use of saccharin in 1977 -- but this is not the case for sucralose (Splenda).
According to the article, as reprinted on the website Green Med Info:
“If not saccharin, then what caused the remarkable increase of IBD in Canada? ... [S]ucralose may be the culprit ... In 1991, Canada was the first country to approve the use of sucralose, and it was allowed to be used as a tabletop sweetener in breakfast cereals, beverages, desserts, toppings, fillings, chewing gum, breath mints, fruit spreads, salad dressings, confectionary, bakery products, processed fruits and vegetables, alcoholic beverages, puddings and table syrups.”