How Splenda’s Made
Posted in Cooking Stuff, Nutrition Hub, University of Health on February 18th, 2010Splenda is a zero calorie alternative to sugar that’s been manufactured since the 1990s. Splenda is made from a chemical process that is based on the chlorination of normal sugar. Splenda is a sugar that has been chemically altered.
Between 2000 and 2004, the percentage of US households using Splenda rose from 3 to 20 percent. Splenda sales exceeded $177 million in a recent year during which there were only $62 million in sales for the aspartame-based Equal and $52 million in sales for the saccharin-based Sweet ‘N Low.
The company that manufactures Splenda, McNeil Nutritionals, says that Splenda has prevailed in some of the most rigorous food tests on record for any food additive. McNeil claims that over 100 such studies have been conducted on Splenda. Most of these studies were done on animals, which throws into doubt the safety report for humans.
The chemical name of Splenda is sucralose. Many people have sucralose intolerance, which makes Splenda an allergen in their body. While sucralose indeed starts off as a sugar molecule, it is the manufacturing process that is concerning. Sucralose is an artificially produced chemical that is cooked up in a five-step patented process. During this process, three chlorine molecules are added to a basic sugar molecule. The initial, natural sugar molecule is a disaccharide that contains two single sugars bound together; fructose and glucose.
One research report nullifies the statement by Splenda’s manufacturers that Splenda is not absorbed by the body. In this study (conducted on humans), one in eight participants did not excrete any sucralose after three days of ingesting Splenda. Another study (conducted on animals) found that 15% of ingested sucralose is absorbed into the digestive system and is then stored in the body.

