Splenda/ˈsplɛndə/ is a global brand ofsugar substitutes and reduced-calorie food products. While the company is known for its original formulation containingsucralose, it also manufactures items using natural sweeteners such asstevia,monk fruit andallulose. It is owned by the American companyHeartland Food Products Group. The high-intensity sweetener ingredientsucralose used in Splenda Original is manufactured by the British companyTate & Lyle.

Splenda

Product type	Sugar substitute
Owner	Heartland Food Products Group
Country	United States
Introduced	1999; 26 years ago (1999)
Website	www.splenda.co.uk www.splenda.com www.splenda.ca

Sucralose was discovered by Tate & Lyle and researchers atQueen Elizabeth College,University of London, in 1976. While researching in newinsecticides, Shashikant Phadnis at Queen Elizabeth College misheard the instruction of his advisor Leslie Hough to "test" the chemical as "taste", due to his misunderstanding of the foreign accent. So he accidentally tasted the chemical, and to his surprise, he found it to be extremely sweet.^{[1][failed verification]} Tate & Lyle subsequently developed sucralose-based Splenda products in partnership withJohnson & Johnson subsidiaryMcNeil Nutritionals, LLC.^[1] The Splenda brand was transferred to Heartland Food Products Group after its purchase of the line with investorCenterbridge Partners in 2015.

Since its approval by the United States government in 1998^[2] and introduction there in 1999, sucralose has overtakenEqual in the $1.5-billion artificial sweetener market, holding a 62% market share.^[3] According to market research firm IRI, Splenda sales were $212 million in 2006 in the U.S. while Equal's totaled $48.7 million.^[4] According to a 2012 article inThe New Zealand Herald it is "the category leader in table-top sweetener in the US".^[5]

Splenda is available in a variety of products,^[6] including:

• Splenda Original Sweeteners (based onsucralose)
• SplendaStevia Sweeteners
• SplendaMonk Fruit Sweeteners
• SplendaAllulose Sweeteners
• Splenda Liquid Sweeteners
• Splenda Coffee Creamers
• Splenda Diabetes Care Shakes
• Splenda Premium Sweet Teas

The energy content of a single-serving (1 g packet) of Splenda is 3.36 kcal, which is 31% of a single-serving (2.8 g packet) of granulated sugar (10.8 kcal).^[7] In the United States, it is legally labelled "zero calories";^[7] U.S.FDA regulations allow this "if the food contains less than 5 Calories per reference amount customarily consumed and per labeled serving".^[8] Splenda powder consists of predominantly fillers asbulking agents –dextrose andmaltodextrin. Sucralose content is about 1.1% and remainder is bulking agents.^[9]

Unlike other artificial sweeteners, sucralose isheat stable up to 450 °F (232 °C), so Splenda can be used as a replacement for table sugar in cooking and baking,^[10] and there are Splenda products packaged specifically for this purpose.^[11] In product testing byCook's Illustrated, the major drawback to cooking with Splenda was found to be that it does not produce the browning or caramelization the way table sugar does.^[12] However,Cook's Illustrated also found that desserts baked with Splenda were "lacking the artificial flavors that just about every other sugar substitute brings with it".^[12]

Splenda usually contains 95%dextrose (D-glucose) andmaltodextrin (by volume) which the body readily metabolizes, combined with a small amount of mostly indigestible sucralose. Sucralose is made by replacing three selecthydrogen-oxygen groups onsucrose (table sugar) molecules with three chlorine atoms.^[13] The tightly bound chlorine atoms create a molecular structure that is stable under intense conditions. Sucralose itself is recognized as safe to ingest as a diabetic sugar substitute,^[14][15] but the sugars or other carbohydrates used as bulking agents in Splenda products should be evaluated individually. The recommended amount of sucralose that can be consumed on a daily basis over a person's lifetime without any adverse effects is 900 mg/kg BW/day, or about 60 g for a 70 kg (150 lb) person.^[16]

A repeated dose study of sucralose in human subjects concluded that "there is no indication that adverse effects on human health would occur from frequent or long-term exposure to sucralose at the maximum anticipated levels of intake".^[17] Conversely, aDuke University animal study funded by theSugar Association^[18] found evidence that doses of Splenda between 100 and 1000 mg/kg BW/day, containing sucralose at 1.1 to 11 mg/kg BW/day, fed to rats reducedfecal microflora, increased the pH level in the intestines, contributed to increases in body weight, and increased levels ofP-glycoprotein (P-gp).^[19] These effects have not been reported in humans.^[17] In response, McNeil Nutritionals, along with an expert panel that included scientists from Duke University,Rutgers University,New York Medical College,Harvard School of Public Health, andColumbia University reported inRegulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology that the Duke study was "not scientifically rigorous and is deficient in several critical areas that preclude reliable interpretation of the study results".^[20] The other ingredients in Splenda—dextrose and maltodextrin—are listed asgenerally recognized as safe because of their long history of safe consumption.^[21][22]

Sucralose may not be completely biologically inert, and a study showed that cooking with sucralose at high temperatures could cause it to degrade into potentially toxic compounds.^[23] However, only a very small amount (approximately 2–8% of sucralose consumed) is metabolized by the body, on average.^[24]

In 2006,Merisant, the maker ofEqual, filed suit against McNeil Nutritionals inU.S. District Court, Philadelphia, alleging that Splenda's tagline; "made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar" is misleading. McNeil argued during the trial that it had never deceived consumers or set out to deceive them, since the product is in fact made from sugar. Merisant asked that McNeil be ordered to surrender profits and modify its advertising. The case ended with an agreement reached outside of court, with undisclosed settlement conditions.^[25] In 2004, Merisant filed a complaint with theBetter Business Bureau regarding McNeil's advertising. McNeil alleged that Merisant's complaint was in retaliation for a ruling in federal court inPuerto Rico, which forced Merisant to stop packaging Equal in packages resembling Splenda's. McNeil filed suit in Puerto Rico seeking a ruling which would declare its advertising to not be misleading. Following Merisant's lawsuit in Philadelphia, McNeil agreed to a jury trial and to the dismissal of its lawsuit in Puerto Rico. However, on May 11, 2007, the parties reached a settlement on the case, the terms of which were not disclosed.^[4]

In 2007, Merisant France prevailed in the Commercial Court of Paris against subsidiaries of McNeil Nutritionals LLC. The court awarded Merisant $54,000 in damages and ordered the defendants to cease advertising claims found to violate Frenchconsumer protection laws, including the slogans; "because it comes from sugar, sucralose tastes like sugar" and "With sucralose: comes from sugar and tastes like sugar".^[26]

A Sugar Association complaint to theFederal Trade Commission stated that "Splenda is not a natural product. It is not cultivated or grown and it does not occur in nature."^[27] McNeil Nutritionals, the manufacturer of Splenda, has responded that its "advertising represents the products in an accurate and informative manner and complies with applicable advertising rules in the countries where Splenda brand products are marketed."^[28]

• Heartland official U.S. website for Splenda
• Heartland official U.K. website for Splenda
• Splenda Truth, rebuttal site run by Heartland, makers of Splenda