# What's the deal with Sucralose? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [December 10, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773 "2020-12-10T16:03:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/41 "2020-12-11T00:42:37Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > And yet Sweet&Low still has enough of a market to be worth selling. It does, though, I can tell you, from having done some work in the artificial sweetener category, that its user base is largely older people, many of whom likely started using saccharin / Sweet & Low back before there were other artificial sweetener options widely available (i.e., before 1981, when NutraSweet came on the market). They’re used to (and even prefer) its particular flavor profile. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/42 "2020-12-11T01:09:20Z")
I find sucralose to taste sweet, though I hate it. One day I bought a cake slice that contained sugar and sucralose. I hadn’t checked the ingredients beforehand because I never thought someone would add sucralose to a cake. It was really sweet (like it had double the amount of sugar in it, hah) but had an unfortunate side effect: I had to make a prolonged visit to the toilet. And then left, then had to go back as my body somehow managed to generate more liquid. Needless to say, if I’m buying something sweet, I check for sucralose, and avoid it. People are getting scared of calories, so this calorie-free nonsense gets added to food. (Along with fat-free. I don’t want fat-free yogurt, thank you very muhc.) Unfortunately food that doesn’t need sugar, such as Big Macs, gets sugar added to them anyway. They will add sugar to Big Macs, and take it away from sweet relish. My mind boggles. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/43 "2020-12-11T02:48:26Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > I hadn’t checked the ingredients beforehand because **I never thought someone would add sucralose to a cake.** > > [Snipped] > > **People are getting scared of calories, so this calorie-free nonsense gets added to food.** My bolding. I can see being annoyed that it isn’t more clearly marked. But my diabetic stepfather was so happy when sucralose came out, because it’s relatively heat stable, so you can bake with it. It was a big deal to a lot of people. And yes, besides diabetics, some people have to watch calorie intake, and still want to be able to have a treat. It’s not fear of calories. It’s making decisions about them. Things should be clearly marked, but I don’t see why anyone would begrudge the availability of calorie free sweeteners to those who want them. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/44 "2020-12-11T02:58:07Z")
I’m really surprised the relish wasn’t clearly labeled “diet”. They’re not going to gain fans by not making it obvious, and not everybody scrutinizes everything they buy at the store. I like sucralose more than any other sugar substitute, but only in beverages. I can’t stand stevia, and monkfruit sweetener doesn’t taste very sweet to me, although it contains mostly erithritol, which probably accounts for any perceived sweetness. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/45 "2020-12-11T03:21:07Z")
The enzyme invertase was so named because it catalyzes the formation of invert sugar from sucrose. Invert sugar is called that because it inverts the polarization of light. If you shine polarized light through a solution of pure sucrose, you’ll find that the polarization has been rotated clockwise +66° or so. As sucrose is hydrolyzed into glucose and fructose, the rotation becomes less and less until some point it becomes zero (called the invert point) and starts turning counter-clockwise. A sucrose solution fully hydrolyzed into glucose and fructose would have a rotation of -19.7° (the negative sign indicates counter-clockwise). ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/46 "2020-12-11T06:21:41Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Invert sugar is called that because it inverts the polarization of light. Thank you! It was bugging me that there seemed no obvious rhyme or reason to call it “invert” sugar. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/47 "2020-12-11T07:59:35Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Everytime I’ve tasted something where sucralose was used as a sweetener, I’ve found it horrible tasting. I can’t understand why it is used, unless most people like the taste. It’s the only artificial sweetener I like-- well, I don’t hate stevia, but I by far prefer Splenda. I’m not supposed to eat table sugar because I have hypoglycemia, and I even have to watch my intake of other sugars, like the amount of fruit I eat at once (and I can’t eat fruit on an empty stomach). Life was much more difficult before Splenda. Saccharine and Nutrasweet just taste like chemicals to me. They don’t even particularly register as sweet. They taste like what I expect cleaning products would taste like. The degree to which Splenda has become ubiquitous makes me think more people are like me than are like people who claim to prefer saccharine or Nutrasweet. I also like the taste of maltodextrin, but too much of it gives me a very upset stomach. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/48 "2020-12-11T11:29:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > That “Splenda” logo was the same size, _and right next to_ , the “Cucumber and Vine” picture you mentioned I noticed neither until I took a picture of the label. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/49 "2020-12-11T11:57:01Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > It’s the only artificial sweetener I like-- well, I don’t hate stevia, but I by far prefer Splenda. Stevia isn’t an artificial sweetener. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/50 "2020-12-11T12:19:30Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > different artificial sweeteners taste different to different people. That’s for sure. My wife can try Splenda and Equal right out of the packets side by side and be disgusted at the taste of Equal. I cannot tell the difference between them. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/51 "2020-12-11T12:51:36Z")
I should have said “sugar substitute.” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/52 "2020-12-11T12:58:48Z")
Here’s my anecdata: The pink stuff was awful. Just awful. I wouldn’t sweeten my coffee with that stuff to save my life. The blue stuff was barely tolerable. Back in the days when there were no better alternatives, I’d use it for a short while if I needed to lose some weight, but would be relieved to be able to switch back to sugar. The yellow stuff is great. I never really noticed a taste difference between coffee or sweet tea sweetened with sugar v. sweetened with sucralose. What I _do_ notice, now that I almost never drink a sugar-sweetened beverage, is the sugar ‘rush’ when I take a sip of a sugar-sweetened drink. My body goes, “ooh, pure _fuel!_” I don’t recall noticing that rush back when sugared beverages were what I always drank; I guess my body was so used to it that it just took it for granted. I haven’t tried any of the more recent non-sugar sweeteners, because I’m perfectly happy with the yellow stuff. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/53 "2020-12-11T13:11:59Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > What I _do_ notice, now that I almost never drink a sugar-sweetened beverage, is the sugar ‘rush’ when I take a sip of a sugar-sweetened drink. You shouldn’t. A sip of a sugar-sweetened drink has about 4 calories, and at any rate, you wouldn’t feel it immediately even if you chugged it. It’s probably psychological, but on the off-chance that it isn’t, you might want to get checked for reactive hypoglycemia. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/54 "2020-12-11T16:10:27Z")
Cool information. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/55 "2020-12-11T19:35:12Z")
While we’re at it, polarization of light is also where the “right” comes from in “dextrose”. And then other chiral molecules (which includes most of the organic molecules relevant to life) get classified as “L” or “R”, based on how they interact with dextrose (or with its mirror L-glucose). ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/56 "2020-12-11T20:13:28Z")
when it looked like saccharin might be banned in the US people panicked and started buying cases of it. BTW there is an official list of what causes cancer or might cause it . I worked on it for about 15 years. Updated every few years. Last update in 2016 This **cumulative report** currently includes 248 listings of agents, substances, mixtures, and exposure circumstances that are known or reasonably anticipated to cause cancer in humans. [15th Report on Carcinogens](https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/whatwestudy/assessments/cancer/roc/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/57 "2020-12-11T23:20:04Z")
I expect more than a few people agree with me that I’d like a standard labeling term that means > We added no sugar AND we added no fake sweeteners either. > It’s just the underlying real food without any added sweet_ness_ at all. I would buy a lot of that company’s products. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/58 "2020-12-12T04:49:32Z")
It’s “L” for levorotatory or “D” for dextrorotatory. There is an “R” prefix, but it’s paired with “S”. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/59 "2020-12-12T06:39:23Z")
Since I’m on a low-sugar diet, Splenda is the only sweetener I ever use. All the others taste like crap to me. I also don’t taste cilantro at all. I wonder whether there’s a genetic connection? ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773/60 "2020-12-12T06:43:33Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I also don’t taste cilantro at all. I wonder whether there’s a genetic connection? Yes there is. A physician child of mine explained it to me. Depending on which version of a chromosome you got, cilantro tastes great to you or it tastes like nasty soap. This ungrateful wretch of a child got the nasty/soap chromosome and it is no end of trouble to him. I told him to take it up with his dad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sucralose/927773.md?page=4)