Splenda: The Splendid–But Not Perfect–Artificial Sweetener

Much to the dismay of lab rats everywhere, the number of artificial sweeteners has dramatically increased in the past hundred years. This increase, which may have something to do with modern man’s recent interest in healthy eating and weight loss, is spurning international controversies. Many of these new sweeteners, such as saccharine and aspartame, may have as-yet-undiscovered long term side effects. For the consumer and especially the consumer with health restrictions or special nutritional needs it is vitally important to understand what exactly these artificial sweeteners are — and how they affect our bodies.

Sucrose, commonly marketed as Splenda, is one of the most recently created non-nutritive sweeteners, but has quickly gained popularity and is now among the top-selling sweeteners in the United States. This artificial sweetener offers a multitude of benefits to the diabetic and calorie-counting dieter, which may explain why it is so widely used today. Contributing zero calories and zero carbohydrates, it is a convenient alternative to the calories and carbohydrates in regular, granulated table sugar.

Though it sounds a bit like a miracle drug, sucralose is decidedly of-this-world and was discovered in 1976. Twenty-two years later, in 1998, the Food and Drug Administration approved it for limited use in an assortment of food products. Today sucralose is available for use in all foods in the United States, and is commonly found in over fifty other countries. The molecular structure of Splenda is based on sucrose—a complex natural sugar composed of glucose and fructose. In fact, sucralose is a chlorinated form of sucrose; this means that in the process of transforming sugar cane into an artificial sweetener, the hydrogen and oxygen groups in sucrose are replaced with three bonds of chlorine–yielding sucralose. This change in the chemical composition explains why sucralose contains no calories: the human body doesn’t recognize the molecular structure as a sugar or as a carbohydrate. Because the substance doesn’t register, sucralose is not absorbed into the blood stream for nutrition. As a result, the granules pass right through the body without being broken down for energy–thus the lack of calories.

This non-absorption means great things for diabetics. Since sucralose is six hundred times sweeter than regular table sugar, it is a convenient way for people exhibiting careful control over their blood sugar levels to enjoy their favorite desserts and sugar drinks. When we consume sugar, our body recognizes it as a carbohydrate and breaks it down into glucose so we can absorb it into our blood stream and take advantage of the nutrients and energy it provides. Because the body does not recognize sucralose as a carbohydrate or sugar, the sucralose is not broken down and is not absorbed into the bloodstream. Therefore, it has no effect on insulin levels and also doesn’t cause an increase in a diabetic’s hemoglobin A1c – a diabetic’s average blood glucose level over time. Keeping close track of glucose and carbohydrate intake is very important for diabetics because the amount of sugar in their blood determines whether they will be hyperglycemic or experience serious complications with their health. For these people, Splenda or sucralose can greatly improve the quality of their life by allowing diabetics the freedom to eat sweet foods without drastically altering the amount of sugar in their blood.

For many of the same reasons that Splenda is a positive sugar alternative for diabetics, it is also a useful alternative for dieters. One of the first things that people on strict weight loss diets eliminate is dessert. They do this because many desserts contain high percentages sugar, fat and calories—the three things they most need to cut down on when trying to lose weight. But with the modern availability of low-calorie and no-calorie artificial sweeteners, modern dieters have the option of simply replacing their bag of (high carbohydrate, high calorie) granulated sugar with a box of (no carbohydrate, no calorie) Splenda or other sugar substitute. By making this switch, these dieters can still enjoy the sweet foods they love while drastically decreasing the number of calories they eat.

One of the gastronomic benefits of sucralose is that, because it derives from the natural sugar sucrose, the flavor of the sweetener is extremely close to that of regular sugar, and has almost no aftertaste. Plus, the FDA conducted over one hundred and ten safety tests on sucralose over a twenty year span– so consumers of this product can be fairly sure that Splenda will live up to the government’s promises: that sucralose is a non-carcinogenic, non-toxic substance that doesn’t promote indigestion or other negative digestive side effects, and doesn’t cause gene mutation over an extended period of consumption. In addition, sucralose does not have the molecular structure that oral bacterias use for tooth decay, so it is actually less likely to cause cavities than regular table sugar.

With all of these health benefits, it seems that Splenda certainly is a splendid product! However, when we look at the baking properties of this artificial sweetener, we realize that sucralose won’t be winning awards with bakers or pastry chefs in the near future. Although it may make sense for home bakers who are looking to cut calories to use this product, the quality of baked goods made with Splenda– rather than granulated sugar– is considerably lower.

The purpose of sugar in baking is to add structure, texture, volume, and color (through carmelization) to baked goods. Sugar also helps to retain moisture in a dessert and makes the final product more tender while acting as a preservative. So, substituting Splenda in any recipes that use sugar for these purposes (especially caramels, meringues and pound cakes), yields a finished product that is considerably less enjoyable than its sugar-laden relative. Splenda simply does not have the same baking properties as old-fashioned granulated sugar; sucralose does not have the viscous quality or the moisture content of sugar. And because sucralose doesn’t contribute the fundamental properties needed for leavening, Splenda recommends altering recipes in which the baker substitutes sucralose for sugar by adding the following:

A half a teaspoon of baking soda for cake, cookie and quick bread recipes
A half a cup of sifted non-fat dry milk powder for cakes
One to two tablespoons of honey or molasses for cookies and quick breads
A half a teaspoon of vanilla for flavor in sauces, puddings and custards.

In addition, even though dextrose and maltodextrin were added to sucralose to improve volume, baked goods made with this sweetener need to be beaten longer than regular sugar to achieve the same fluffy, aerated texture, and still the recipe with the sugar substitution will never yield the same amount of product as the sugar version.

So although Splenda has contributed a great deal to the diabetic and dieting populations in the world, it is not so beneficial that we should completely assimilate it into all of our favorite recipes. Splenda may be a great product for some, but it simply isn’t as splendid as sugar when it comes to baking.

Works Cited
American Diabetes Association. Complete Guide to Diabetes. 2nd ed. Alexandria: American Diabetes Association, 1999.

Cronier, Claire, MSc, RD and Marjan Shalchi MSc, RD. “Artificial Sweeteners.”

Henkel, John. FDA Consumer. September 6, 2003. http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1999/699_sugar.html.

September 7, 2003. http://www.splenda.com.