Posted on 04/10/2007 10:50:41 PM PDT by BulletBobCo
PHILADELPHIA - The marketers of Splenda have made millions by confusing consumers into thinking the yellow packets contain a natural product and not an artificial sweetener, its chief rival told a jury Tuesday.
Splenda has cornered the $1.5 billion market for sugar substitutes since its 2000 debut through false advertising that implies Splenda contains sugar, the manufacturer of Equal says.
The Merisant Co., which makes Equal and NutraSweet, says Splenda is misleading customers with its tag line, "Made from sugar so it tastes like sugar." Splenda contains no sugar and is instead sweetened with a synthetic compound through a complex chemical process.
McNeil Nutritionals counters that it uses sugar in the manufacturing process, even if it is burned off and not part of the final product. American consumers prefer Splenda because it tastes better and is easier to bake with, their lawyer said.
"Now, in 2007, Merisant wants to blame its misfortunes on false advertising," lawyer Steven Zalesin said in opening remarks in U.S. District Court.
Chicago-based Merisant sued McNeil over the advertising claims in 2004, saying that McNeil made at least $183 million in unfair profits since 2003 and that Merisant lost $25 million in sales of its products. The trial is expected to last up to three weeks.
Merisant charges that McNeil misled consumers into thinking that Splenda contained only natural ingredients, and that it was safer and healthier than other artificial sweeteners. McNeil repeatedly evaded questions about whether Splenda is "natural," a Merisant lawyer said.
"McNeil documents show that they knew consumers were confused and they didn't do anything to stop it," Merisant lawyer Gregg LoCascio said.
McNeil initially marketed Splenda with the slogan, "Made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar. But it's not sugar." After disappointing results, the company dropped the last sentence and sales started climbing, LoCascio said.
Splenda is now used in more than 4,000 food and drink products, from Diet Coke to Juicy Fruit gum. And Splenda had 60 percent of the more than $355 million in sales to consumers last year, according to the research firm Information Resources Inc.
Equal and Sweet'N Low each held about 14 percent of the consumer market, and their sales were falling.
Splenda's lawyer attributed its success to a superior product and heftier advertising budget. McNeil has spent $234 million promoting Splenda, more than twice the $108 million spent on Equal in the same period, Zalesin said.
Zalesin also defended the language used in Splenda's ads, saying no sugar substitute markets itself as an "artificial sweetener." Instead, marketers use what he called "code" language, such as the term "no-calorie sweetener."
Neither Equal, which comes in blue packets and is made with aspartame, nor Sweet'N Low, in the pink packets and made with saccharin, comes from sugar, he said.
U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter's courtroom on Tuesday was packed with law clerks and young attorneys who turned out to see the global business brawl.
McNeil, which is based in Fort Washington and is a unit of Johnson & Johnson, markets Splenda for its manufacturer, London-based Tate & Lyle PLC. It is also defending its Splenda advertising claims in a separate lawsuit filed by the Sugar Association, a group of U.S. sugar manufacturers.
A federal court trial in that case is scheduled for November in Los Angeles. A federal judge in Delaware last year threw out McNeil's countersuit against the association, saying the California court should have jurisdiction because the two complaints shared the same fundamental question: whether Splenda is safe and healthy.
Splenda, on its Web site, touts "important health and lifestyle benefits" and discusses health issues such as child obesity and diabetes.
Anyone who puts sugar or splenda in their coffee might as well be drinking a cola slurpee.
Just mix coffee with ice and condensed milk. Ca Phe Sua Da!
This stuff and aspartame and high fructose corn syrup (in just about EVERYTHING!!) gives me major migraines!! Fortunately real sugar and Sweet’n’Low doesn’t, so I can take care of my sweet tooth!
That stuff and crap like it make me VERY sick to my stomach. Tastes like metal.
Works with cubes or do i need a quisinart to spin them up?
She likes it better than the 'chemical plant' sweeteners.
Splenda tastes almost normal.
Saccharine tastes like road tar with lemon squeezed into it. Aspartame - dunno. I can’t stand most sodas that have it.
Wickerpedia says that’s 300 times sweeter than sugar. Does she fly around the house like a hummingbird?
She gets around pretty darned well for a great-grandma, but the sweetener is no calorie—so no sugar buzz (besides, she is sweet enough as it is). (8^D)
Sugar in coffee? That’s disgusting.... black with cream
They sure did a bang up marketing job, but Splenda (yellow packet) is fraught with negatives.
http://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/sugars__the_ugly
# Sucralose (Splenda) is made from normal sugar which has been CHLORINATED, producing a host of chlorine bi-products, including dioxins and other organochlorines, that contribute to the widescale chlorine pollution of waterways.
These chemicals can work their way up the food chain and into our bodies - and they stay there, lodged in fat cells. Dioxins contribute to cancers, hormone imbalance, birth defects, infertility, and they suppress the immune system.
Chlorine contaminants are “so widespread, it would be difficult to find any human being who does not have detectable levels of dioxin in his/her blood,” according to Stephen Ashkin, chair of the American Society for Testing and Material’s Task Force, Clinton’s Green Chemistry Challenge Task Force, and director of product development and environmental affairs for Seventh Generation.
# Research on sucralose in animal studies has shown effects including:
shrinking of the thymus gland, enlarged liver and kidneys, reduced growth rate, decreased red blood cell count (anemia), extension of pregnancy period, birth defects, and atrophy of lymph follicles.
# Sucralose is produced at 98% purity. The other two percent may contain contaminants such as heavy metals, methanol, chlorinated by-products, and arsenic.
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There is a safe, non-sugar sweetener: Stevia (in liquid or powder form), an actual natural botanical, is available in health food stores. The sugar lobby is so powerful, that it’s not approved to be sold as a sweetener .. only as a “supplement.” It’s VERY sweet, and I start with very little, then add in tiny increments, if necessary.
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http://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/sugars__the_good
Stevia, an extract from the leaves of about several species of plant from the genus Stevia, may be the most perfect sweetener for the human body. Stevia has been shown to support the function of the pancreas - increasing enzyme availability and improving your body’s ability to process other sugars.
Stevia is sold in the U.S. as a dietary supplement, and can be found in either liquid or powdered form in most health food stores. It is sometimes criticized for its slightly bitter aftertaste.
For those who enjoy baking, however, you substitute only a tiny amount for normal sugar - 1/4 to 1/32 the amount of sugar called for, depending on the kind of stevia. Stevia has also been shown to reduce cavities and has few to no calories (again, depending on the type you use).
I tried Stevia - not good, but OK b/c it has a bit of an aftertaste. I won’t use the artificial stuff like Splenda. Xylitol looks like sugar and tastes like sugar - you might give it a try if you can find it in a local health food store. Xylitol is called “Diabetic Sugar” because it won’t spike your blood sugar - I use it on my shredded wheat cereal in the mornings and to make lemonade. FYI
I never got that idea. It seemed clear to me that it was a chemically modified sugar...which is no longer a sugar.
That was my impression too.
All the sugar alcohols like xylitol and mannitol give me gas. More power to you if you can eat ‘em. I’ve been trying to avoid sweeteners of any kind where possible. What I’ve noticed is that the artificial sweeteners train my palate to crave excessive sugar, so if I do eat any sugar sweetened desserts I go overboard.
“The other two percent may contain contaminants such as heavy metals, methanol, chlorinated by-products, and arsenic.”
I love it when these reports say stuff like this...does it contain these buggaboo compounds or doesn’t it? They are just trying to plant the fear with no basis for it. Otherwise they would have said so more boldly.
Pseudo science...gotta love it.
ALL artificial sweeteners absolutely suck. I can’t stand the taste of anything with them.
"Xylitol looks like sugar and tastes like sugar - you might give it a try if you can find it in a local health food store. Xylitol is called “Diabetic Sugar” because it won’t spike your blood sugar - I use it on my shredded wheat cereal in the mornings and to make lemonade. FYI"
Everyone: just don't accidentally feed a bit of Xylitol laced muffin or whatever to your dog - it might die. Another sugar alcohol, Erythritol, is safe for dogs and like Xylitol has less of the laxative effect (of maltitol).
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