LOVE: A MANY SPLENDA-D THING

Christine Blank

Consumers can't seem to get enough of Splenda. After just a few short years, the sweetener now accounts for more than 51% of all sugar substitute sales. It was largely responsible for the 8.1% increase in sales over the past year, bringing the total category to more than $320 million, according to Information Resources Inc. More versions are on the way, too, including a new brown sugar formulation.

Not everyone is enamored, however. In a letter to the trade, California Giant, Watsonville, Calif., stated customer requests for "a nutritive sweetener" have prompted it to drop Splenda from its Just Strawberries health drink in favor of old-fashioned fructose.

The Sugar Association has been hoping for this kind of reaction. It's created a Web site, www.truthaboutsplenda.com, that includes statements from various representatives of the scientific community stating that Splenda is sucralose, a chemical compound that includes chlorine.

The association has also joined with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the National Grange, and several other consumer and agriculture groups in petitioning the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Splenda's "misleading" advertising.

"Splenda's marketing techniques are unfair to farmers and the entire agricultural industry," said Richard Weiss, chief operating officer of the National Grange.

McNeil Nutritional Products, maker of Splenda, did not return WH's calls.