While millions around the world consume foods and beverages sweetened with Splenda (sucralose) with abandon, an accumulating body of research indicates that this synthetic chemical is far from safe, may contribute to obesity and blood sugar disorders, and more recently has even been linked to leukemia in animal experiments.
For several years now, Greenmedinfo (GMI) has consolidated scientific study abstracts from the National Library of Medicine about Splenda (sucralose) and its potential health related effects. Two articles citing the most compelling research are The Bitter Truth about Splenda and Splenda (Sucralose) Found to have Diabetes Promoting Effects, both by GMI’s founder, Sayer Ji. The former refers to its xenobiotic nature, i.e. its metabolically foreign chemical properties, 1 and provides evidence that when the sensation of sweetness is disassociated from ‘food,’ i.e. a source of calories or nutrition, it is either unrecognizable by the body, or disrupts the body neuroendocrine system in an adverse manner. 2
The latter article focuses on the potential sucralose has to promote diabetic and /or pre-diabetic disease processes within the human body. The results delineated in the study point to just a single dose of sucralose resulting in increases in blood sugar concentration, increases in insulin levels and decreases in insulin sensitivity, all of which are possible pre-cursors to diabetes. 3
The study came to the attention of a Johnson & Johnson spokesperson, who submitted a rebuttal letter to our founder. View it here.
On the surface, the J&J rebuttal reasonably addresses the points of view expressed in these articles. However, on further analysis, it is clear that several of its criticisms are superficial: namely, that the study did not test subjects with diabetes (even though the sucralose ingestion is clearly attributed to an increase in blood glucose levels and insulin secretion in subjects) and second, the methodology of the study which, Thomas notes, was ‘small.. and was not backed by scientific collective data’ 4