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A couple of weeks ago, a consumer group took its dispute with the makers of Splenda over misleading claims in its advertising -- that blurred the line between natural and artificial -- to the Federal Trade Commission. Now, a number of lawsuits have sprung up disputing those same claims, including class-action cases filed by individual consumers, the Texas Consumer Association and one more obvious plaintiff: The Sugar Association.
The assault began after Merisant, the maker of Equal, filed its lawsuit on Nov. 26, arguing McNeil Nutritionals' claim that Splenda is "made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar."
Not so surprisingly, here's the response from a McNeil spokesperson about the lawsuits, apart from the claim consumers are "naturally" choosing their low-calorie product over the real thing: "We have never represented Splenda as being natural." (Take a look to the right at the accompanying image and judge for yourself if that's true.)
Imagine how hard it would be to sell Splenda if McNeil, a division of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, had to replace the "Made From Sugar" tag line beneath its logo to "Made from dextrose, maltodextrin and 4-chloro-4-deoxy-alpha, D-Galactopyranosyl-1, 6-dichloro-1, 6-dideoxy-beta, D-fructofuranoside"?
Despite the controversy, Splenda controls more than half of the national market for low calorie sweeteners, based on dollar volume. And its use in processed foods seems to be growing exponentially, to the degree McNeil isn't making enough of it.
Before you take the Splenda "plunge," consider whether you want to expose your body to these awful side effects:
- Diarrhea
- An aborted pregnancy
- Atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus
- Reduced growth rate
- Decreased red blood cell count
I can't stress enough how important it is, for the health of you and your family, to review my extensive Splenda testimonials pages, filled with heartbreaking stories about the toxic effects this artificial product has inflicted. You'll be glad you did.
Yahoo News January 31, 2005
The Beverage Network January 31, 2005