Splenda
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| Product type | Sugar substitute |
|---|---|
| Owner | Heartland Food Products Group (Centerbridge Partners) |
| Country | U.K. |
| Introduced | 1999 |
| Website |
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Splenda /ˈsplɛndə/ is the commercial name and registered trademark of a sucralose-based artificial sweetener owned by the American company Heartland Food Products Group and manufactured by the British company Tate & Lyle. It is available in both granular and dissolvable tablet forms.
Sucralose was discovered by Tate & Lyle and researchers at Queen Elizabeth College, University of London, in 1976. Tate & Lyle subsequently developed sucralose-based Splenda products in partnership with Johnson & Johnson subsidiary McNeil Nutritionals, LLC. The Splenda brand was transferred to Heartland Food Products Group after their purchase of the line with investor Centerbridge Partners in 2015.
Since its approval by the United States government in 1998 and introduction there in 1999, sucralose has overtaken Equal in the $1.5-billion artificial sweetener market, holding a 62% market share. According to market research firm IRI, Splenda sales were $212 million in 2006 in the U.S. while Equal's totaled $48.7 million. According to a 2012 article in The New Zealand Herald it is "the category leader in table-top sweetener in the US".
Sucralose has no caloric content, and Splenda products have a lower caloric content than sugar. The actual energy content of a single-serving (1 g packet) of Splenda is 3.36 kcal, 31% of those of a single-serving (2.8 g packet) of granulated sugar (10.8 kcal). In the United States, it is legally labelled "zero calories"; U.S. FDA regulations allow this "if the food contains less than 5 Calories per reference amount customarily consumed and per labeled serving". Further, Splenda contains a relatively small amount of sucralose, little of which is metabolized; virtually all of Splenda's caloric content derives from the dextrose or highly fluffed maltodextrin "bulking agents" that give Splenda its volume. Like other carbohydrates, dextrose and maltodextrin have 3.75 kcal per gram.
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