Posted on 12/04/2004 8:18:52 PM PST by Hawkeye
Dieters hoping for a slew of new products with the sugar substitute Splenda may be disappointed next year.
That's because the maker of sucralose, the key ingredient behind the increasingly ubiquitous no-calorie sweetener, is having trouble keeping up with demand.
Tate & Lyle PLC, the world's only manufacturer of sucralose, said interest has so outpaced expectations the company won't take on new U.S. customers until it has doubled production at it's plant in McIntosh, Ala., sometime in early 2006.
The company also plans to open a second plant in Singapore, according to a written statement.
Buoyed by a surge in anti-sugar diets such as Atkins and South Beach, Splenda has enjoyed sweet success since its introduction in 2000, appearing in everything from soda and ice cream to candy and jams.
Splenda, which won fans with its sugar-like sweetness and stability in baking, now dominates the $337 million U.S. retail market for sugar substitutes, beating out aspartame sweetener Equal, made by Chicago-based Merisant Corp.
"Sucralose has one of those problems that's both good and bad to have," said John Sicher, editor of Beverage Digest. "The demand is tremendous. The supply is constrained."
Splenda is sold to consumers as a table and baking sugar substitute by McNeil Nutritionals LLC, a Pennsylvania-based unit of Johnson & Johnson. (JNJ) Consumer sales won't be affected by the tight supply, a company spokeswoman said.
Sales of sucralose to manufacturers as an ingredient for use in other products are handled directly by Tate & Lyle, which is headquartered in London.
How many new sucralose-sweetened products will come to market is difficult to tell, says Sicher. It depends largely on how many products already have been developed and how much sucralose companies bought in advance.
He says it's too soon to tell how the tight supply might affect existing sucralose-based products at large companies, such as Coca-Cola Co.'s low-calorie "C2" cola, but Tate & Lyle said the Alabama plant will meet the needs of existing customers.
A Coke spokeswoman wouldn't comment.
Small companies hoping to expand or introduce low-cal products likely will face the most trouble.
Atkins Nutritionals helped spur Splenda's surge by endorsing its use in the company's hugely popular low-carb diet. Matthew Wiant, chief marketing officer for Atkins, estimates sucralose is used in as many as 10,000 products. But he doesn't think companies will have a problem switching to other sweeteners if they can't get it.
Lyn Nabors of the Calorie Control Council, a nonprofit trade group, said more companies probably will switch to sugar and sweetener blends, which have fewer calories but require less of the substitute.
Companies who insist on pure sucralose may have to delay new products, she said.
Dan Conner, a co-owner of Conner Bottle Works, a small Newfields, N.H., company that makes old-fashioned glass-bottled sodas, started feeling the Splenda squeeze two months ago. That's when he got a letter from Tate & Lyle telling him he could buy only small amounts of sucralose each month.
He said that for many years his company resisted making diet sodas because the available sugar substitutes didn't taste right. But sucralose was different, and this year Conner added two diet sodas.
But with supplies tightening, Conner now hopes another company will introduce a sucralose competitor, since the cost of sucralose has jumped significantly.
"Maybe we'll get some price wars going to help people like myself," he said.
Merisant, which acquired the Equal business from Monsanto Co. (MON) in 2000, recently sued McNeil Nutritionals, accusing it of false advertising by claiming Splenda is made from sugar.
McNeil Nutritionals claims the lawsuit is without merit, saying sucralose starts as cane sugar.
the eeeeVIL BIG sugar industry
What is the story about Splenda? I have heard about aspartame. I thought that Splenda was supposed to be the safe one.
I'm diabetic. Me and thousands (millions?) of other diabetics use Splenda all of the time w/o incident or depression. It has nothing to do w/weight control and everything to do w/being able to enjoy some semblance of a normal diet and still have my vision and legs 20 years from now.
I find it tastes better than Sweet n Low and doesn't give me hunger pangs like Equal (there's a reason for that, which I forget at the moment; you're supposed to eat a protein if you drink something w/aspartame). I'm doing a rather intense doctoral program, so it hasn't rotted my brain that I can tell.
Call me old fashioned, but the commercials w/chldren eating products w/Splenda make me a bit uncomfortable. Unless the child is diabetic, they should probably be eating food w/regular sugar or honey, not modified or artificial sweetners. But that's just me.
I have cases of Splenda from Sam's Club stacked in my closet. No fear of a shortage here.
Still didn't taste as good as sugar, was kinda of bland, but doesn't have that awful aftertaste which aspartame does.
Spleda is also pretty good over strawberries and blueberries or in coffee.
The Breyer's ice cream made with it is not that bad either.
Can not believe all the conflicting reports re: artificial sweetners. Husband is a diabetic and we are trying to do what is best.
You're right. You have to be careful w/'conflicting reports.' Who's doing the reporting? What is the credential of the reporter? Is it some reporterette doing 10 seconds on the evening news who doesn't understand what she read off of the wire or a reporter w/a science background who reports on this field all of the time? Is it the scientist who's actually done the research? Are they reporting on a large scale trial or a small preliminary study? Who funded the study? Not all science reporting is created equal and you have to listen/read carefully to what is being said.
Especially for diabetics, you have to be responsible for a lot of your own health care, which means being a critical consumer of health-related information. I don't let others' anecdotal comments about foods/meds/treatments influence the treatment choices I make for myself.
Good luck.
I'm with you. I'm a diabetic as well and have used Splenda since I was first diagnosed a year ago. I haven't suffered from depression or any other side effect. I use it in my coffee and on my breakfast cereal. I've even baked with it. I buy only products sweetened with it. I shop at B.J.'s and have a large box sitting on the top of my icebox. No shortage here either.
I'm dieting (always and forever), and lucky for me....I
not a cookies/cake baker....I have that stuff sitting in the pantry...it's been there for months..maybe I should put in on EBAY!!!!!!!
I use Splenda everyday for coffee and also consume it in baked products (though not everyday). I have not had any side effects to my knowledge. Certainly, I'm much healthier then I was when I was using refined sugar.
I researched Splenda when it first came out. I found that it was made out of corn like many other sweetners. I am allergic to corn in all its forms so I don't use Splenda. I have not found that bit of info in your links however.
I take 800 IU's of vitamin E plus one Milk Thistle tablet each day, at the direction of my doctor, to counteract fatty deposits on my liver. This is a very common problem with diabetics. As well, I take 1,000 mgs of calcium a day per my gynecologist. I also take medications for hypertension, hypothyroidism, acid reflux and diabetes, so my total count of pills per day is at least 12 pills. I was taking Bextra for my arthritis, but heard that it is being investigated for the same problems experienced with Vioxx. I stopped taking it last week and have started taking Tylenol when needed. As my father used to say: "I'm in good shape for the shape that I'm in." I passed a recent stress test with flying colors, doing even better on the treadmill than I did in '98. Other than the aches and pains of tendonitis and arthritis, I'm doing pretty good.
Since last year, I've cut down my soda intake, and switched to A&W diet rootbeer and cream soda, plus diet Pepsi Vanilla, diet Pepsi Twist, and diet Sierra Mist. I don't care for regular diet Pepsi. If I get a craving for chocolate, I have some Russell Stover sugar-free candy, made with Splenda. I'm not a big eater of baked goods. I buy the sugar-free cookies, but rarely finish a package, and they sit on my counter for ages until I get tired of looking at them and throw them out.
Bookmarking to show my Wife later.
((I think I'm a dead man.........))
I think God made each of us a little different and sometimes we just have to watch how things react to our bodies (or vice versa). I totally believe you when you mention the results that happened to you. I believe it is wise for all of us to understand that our bodies do behave different to different materials and to keep a watch out on these sugar subs.
Smile from a fellow Christian.
LowOiL
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