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Splenda

hanadr

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soaps on telly and people talking about the characters as if they were real.
I was browsing the threads and found that someone has posted a link to a website that purports to tell the truth about Splenda. I went to the site and whilst I think I have an open mind and I know I have a scientific degree (and a certificate to prove it) I was horrified by the evidence supplied. The warning mainly rests on the fact that Splenda is different from Sucrose by the replacement of hydroxyl functional groups, with Chlorine in the molecule. It is pushing the idea that advertisers are pretending Splenda is like sugar.( It is Very like)
The website is just as dishonest in the way it tells you that if you consume Splenda, you are consuming chlorine (implying gaseous chlorine) there's even a reference to swimming pools.
The empirical formula of sucrose is C12 H22 O11
That of Splenda is C12 H19 O8 Cl3 3 out of every 42 atoms chemically combined in the Splenda molecule are chlorine atoms
Salt has an empirical formula NaCl. 1 of the only 2 atoms combined in the molecule is Chlorine. Now we all know salt is dangerous if we eat too much of it, but it’s the Sodium which is the danger, not the chlorine and in a salt molecule, the sodium and chlorine can dissociate. They don’t in a molecule like Splenda.
I’m NOT saying that Splenda is totally safe. But I assume it is and use it, What I am saying is that the argument put forward in that website is dishonest. There’s no evidence that free chlorine is ever given off by Splenda.
 
Hi Hana,
As you know I was the one who posted the splenda link, I feel reports like that should be brought to the attention of this board and opened up to debate. Unlike you I don't have a scientific background so I was in no position to comment on the reports findings, so I'd just like to thank you for your comments and hope they put everyones minds at rest regarding splenda.

Regards Graham
 
I have a degree in Applied Biology - 25 years ago now, so things have moved on so my knowledge is very out-of-date.

But, I take any scientific info on non-scientific websites and adverts with a pinch of salt. pardon the pun :)
I think of the pseudoscience in the adverts for face creams with the name of a chemical they have made up. The info is simplified anyway, and the body is a very complex thing with many checks and balances. As those of use with diabetes know - the check and balance system for glucose control etc has gone wrong, or gone completely
:wink:

As handar says, for now I'll assume it's safe and will continue using it.
 
My pet hate is that Proxy-lane for pro- xylane.
My degree is Applied Biology. where did you do yours? Mine was 1970 at Hatfield. I specialised in Plant pathology . all that remains to me of that is that I can tell wheat, oats and barleya apart at th e3 leaf seedling stage. General chemistry I used as a teacher.
 
Thanks Graham for your graciousness.

I hate all the pseudo science that goes on. Invent a big word and it suddenly has importance and is "true".
The trouble with the Splenda controversy( it's been going on a while) is that there's a multi-million dollar sugar and corn syrup industry in the USA, which lobbies against safe sweeteners. I wouldn't be surprised if they are not the source of the anti Stevia propaganda.

I loved it when Aldi's own brand face cream £1.89 a tube, or so was preferred by women, in a trial, to all others including stuff costing about £100 a time.
And in toothpase ads " No other product is better" at cleaning your teeth. You need to be able to analyse English to realise that doesn't mean, "this one is best" it means "there's no difference in efficacy of toothpastes"
Pity the only people who can understand our language properly are using it to confuse or are old pedants like me.
 
I did my degree at Hatfield Poly! 1980 -1984
I did pharmacology and biochemistry related subjects in my final year. I haven't been back to Hatfield for about 10 years. They were just starting to build the M25 while I was there, but now I expect it's nothing much like it was then!
 
Joe,
There's no such thing as "just a brickie". Without you and others like you we'd all be living in houses made of mud, wattle and cattle dung!
 
Shush on that one! my son-in-law's a plumber and he's lovely!
 
hanadr said:
The trouble with the Splenda controversy( it's been going on a while) is that there's a multi-million dollar sugar and corn syrup industry in the USA, which lobbies against safe sweeteners. I wouldn't be surprised if they are not the source of the anti Stevia propaganda.

Sure. Have a look at http://www.truthaboutsplenda.com for this delightful quote...

Splenda is an artificial sweetener made from a chemical compound that includes chlorine. Splenda is not natural.

Of course, refined sugars from cane and beet are entirely natural, and have never been known to harm anyone...unless you're a diabetic or morbidly obese or a child with rotting teeth.

:roll:
 
AND Forgetting that plants like sugarbeet and sugar cane are Brilliant chemical factories and that Sucrose is a simple Chemical, whose molecular structure is very well known
 
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