# New Sweetners

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-sweetners/100107>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 26, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-sweetners/100107 "2002-03-26T01:16:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-sweetners/100107/1 "2002-03-26T01:16:27Z")

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I have heard of Sugar (and it’s family sucrose, fructose etc) and Aspertame and Saccarine

Now I find Splenda and I saw something by Suzanne Sommers called Somersweet.(at like $14.00 for a hundred of them) What is the difference between them. Are there others?

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-sweetners/100107/2 "2002-03-26T01:34:44Z")

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All of these are chemicals that happen to stimulate the sweet receptors among our taste buds. They are hundreds of times sweeter than sucrose so that they can be used in tiny quantities, making them effectively calorie-free.

Splenda, or sucralose, is chlorinated sucrose. It is the only artificial sweetener that I can stand, and I wish it were in more products. SomerSweet is supposed to be fiber-based, but I don’t know anything more about it.

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**Author:** ![insider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@insider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/insider)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-sweetners/100107/3 "2002-03-26T02:23:25Z")

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I have tried several different sweetners and found that Stevia, a natural herb from Peru I believe, has the best taste and no after taste. It is about 400 times sweeter than sugar and has no calories and does not encourage tooth decay. You can only buy it in a health store and not in supermarkets. Check it out on Google for more information.

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**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-sweetners/100107/4 "2002-03-26T02:48:28Z")

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This Straight Dope column is tangentially relevant to the subject:

[Did aspartame (NutraSweet) cause Gulf War Syndrome? (29-Nov-1996)](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a961129.html)