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Will the real safe sugar please stand up?

Published Saturday, August 28, 2004 by seanlmccarthy | E-mail this post

Another strange week in food/health news. It seems the medical journals and dieticians always give us conflicting advice, and this week's reports on sugar are no different. On Tuesday, the Journal of the American Medical Association said more of us are becoming diabetic from drinking too much sugary soda pop. But on Friday, a national panel of nutritionists commissioned by the Bushies merely suggested that cutting back on sugar might help your health. Might help. Then again, what are we to make of all the fake sugars out there?

First came Sweet'n Low, which people loved (and still do) until some folks worried about the safety of saccharin. Even the website for saccharin supporters notes the controversy over its safety record.

Then came Equal, which contains aspartame. Again, the company's website goes to great lengths to calm fears over its safety. But my rule of thumb remains thusly: If your product has to bold-face one of its ingredients -- say, oh, I don't know..."Phenylketonurics: Contains Phenylalanine" as many "diet" products do -- that can never be a good thing.

And now the new wonder kid on the block is Splenda, made of sucralose. Which apparently, is sugar without the sugar. And that, we're told, is a good thing.