"Haha! I told you so!" my mother called as she trotted to the kitchen to retrieve her small glass vial and eye dropper, dripping triumph as she went. Oh, to be home for the holidays. "I've been using stevia for years!" We had just seen the television ad for Truvia, the new natural no-calorie sweetener made from this herb, which is also known as sweetleaf. Have any of you seen it? Unable to allow my mother to be right—God forbid—I decided to do some research. Turns out, the stuff sounds pretty amazing....
Continue reading »
Last year, a university study determined that
Splenda "contributes to obesity, destroys good intestinal bacteria, and prevents prescription drugs from being absorbed." But the research was funded by the
Sugar Association. Not to second guess the work of scientists, but this raises questions about the relationship between private sector and academia.
Continue reading »
Well, I did my Equal vs. Splenda A-B test on a bowl of corn flakes yesterday. Splenda, as most of you Serious Eaters predicted, was the clear winner. I guess the courts are going to decide if the Splenda folks can make the advertising claim that it's made from sugar. From my vantage point, Splenda actually tasted like sugar going down. Equal was just as sweet but had a slightly odd aftertaste. Not like that awful Sweet 'N Low aftertaste that could cut through Limburger cheese, just an odd metallic aftertaste that was none too pleasant. From now on our household is going to be Equal-free and Splenda-filled....
Continue reading »
The manufacturer of Equal is taking the folks who make Splenda to court over the issue of whether Splenda's advertising can contain the phrase, "made from sugar." I must admit I switched from Equal to Splenda a couple of years ago in part because I found it comforting that Splenda was "made from sugar." According to the story, whether that statement is technically true is open to scientific interpretation. Inspired by this tale of marketing and scientific intrigue, I hit my local supermarket to compare prices of Equal, Splenda, and Sweet 'N Low. Here's what I discovered: 50 Equal Packets: $2.79 50 Splenda packets: $2.89 50 Sweet 'N Low packets: $1.49 From a market position standpoint, these prices make sense....
Continue reading »
