Will Splenda kill you?

Filed under: Netscape

One of the interesting things about a running a social news site is that you get an early warning system about not only breaking news, but also what people care about. Yesterday a story about Splenda from a questionable source made it to the home page. People are alarmed and the story has 36 votes and 42 comments already... our Anchors and Navigators are investigating the story.

http://health.netscape.com/story/2006/09/26/the-lethal-science-of-splenda-a-poisonous-chlorocarbon

It seems a lot of folks are really concerned about Splenda and we've mobilized dozens of folks at Netscape (users and staff) to investigate the issue.

Tags: social news, social software, SocialNews, SocialSoftware, splenda

Sep 27th 2006 10:56AM
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1. I had an Arnold Palmer Half & Half (I know, I know) with Splenda in it a couple months ago. NEVER AGAIN. I felt like I had a stomach ulcer afterwards so bad doing anything (laying down, standing up or sitting) was painful. No more Splenda for me?

Posted at 12:09PM on Sep 27th 2006 by Irma

2. I put together a quick entry rounding up some interesting links about Sucralose (Splenda) and Aspartame, etc:

http://dossy.org/archives/000348.html

Posted at 12:40PM on Sep 27th 2006 by Dossy Shiobara

3. I have 4 splenda packets each day...one with my morning cup of coffee and one with my evening cup of coffee/tea.

I've done this now since splenda came out...everyday since that time. I'm 31 yrs old, 5'7" tall, 175lbs and also have suffered 2 stomach ulcers in my life. I have no problems whatsoever with splenda. As a matter of fact, once I began getting things with splenda in them, I lost 14 pounds and have kept it off. As a matter of principal I purchase sugary type things ONLY if they are made with Splenda.

I'd have to say that this article is trying to claim for shock value. Each person metabolizes different things at different rates...what might poison one person could be used by the gallons with another. Bottom line...EVERYTHING can be a poison to EVERYONE. Metabolism is a funny thing. This article makes it sound like this is going to happen to everyone. Bogus.

Posted at 12:46PM on Sep 27th 2006 by devnet

4. You should look into Xylitol - it's supposed to be healthier and safer than Splenda and Nutrasweet. Its the sweetner that's in Trident gum. http://www.xylitol.org/

Posted at 12:57PM on Sep 27th 2006 by CD

5. I just left this as a comment over at Netscape:

Just throwing my two cents into the discussion:

http://dossy.org/archives/000348.html

I suspect all the buzz around Sucralose (Splenda) is FUD and hype, but in the off chance that it's not, I hope some conclusive scientific research is done and soon.

Posted at 1:12PM on Sep 27th 2006 by Dossy Shiobara

6. I see this as a major problem with social news sites like Digg and Netscape: articles like this can rocket to the top by fearmongering.

This article is written by someone with a very obvious agenda, it's full of FUD and misinformation, it comes from a private site rather than a professional news source, and most importantly, IT ISN'T NEWS-- it's over a year old and has been talked about all over the web. But it looks like "news" when it shows up on the front page of Digg or Netscape.

Posted at 10:16PM on Sep 27th 2006 by Michael Moncur

7. I developed serious chronic stomach problems after I started using Splenda.
This prompted me to search for a possible association between stomach problems and Splenda.
I don't believe all the people posting comments have an ax to grind. Apparently Splenda affects some people (like me). I wish there was some serious research about it.

Posted at 8:14AM on Jun 26th 2007 by Ruben Misrahi

8. Here is a research article on Splenda.

http://www.wnho.net/splenda_chlorocarbon.htm

Posted at 1:56PM on Dec 13th 2007 by sylvia schaeffer

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