Low-sugar has become the new low-carb

Food makers are rushing to meet demand from consumers concerned with their waistlines and healthier eating by providing an array of new products, some of them aimed at children. But scientists are divided over how positive this development is, questioning whether the change will help people lose weight, and how healthful the artificial sweeteners are.

According to a survey done by the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a food industry trade group, almost 50 percent of all grocery shoppers said they were looking for products with reduced sugar.

Propelled in part by the popularity of the sugar substitute sucralose, or Splenda, the food industry last year introduced 2,225 sugarless or sugar-reduced products in the United States, according to the research firm Productscan Online. This figure is more than double that of two years ago and represents 11 percent of all new products in 2004.

While many nutritionists champion artificial sweeteners as a way to cut calories and reduce sugar, others say these products are not the answer to America's weight and health problems. Some critics voice concern about the increased consumption of what are essentially chemical sweeteners, especially among children.

Dr. Susan Schiffman, a sweetener specialist and professor of medical psychology at Duke University Medical Center, says she has safety concerns about sucralose, which is the nation's fastest-growing sugar replacement, according to the Freedonia Group, a research firm. She points to the Food and Drug Administration's 1998 report giving approval for sucralose, which said the compound is "weakly mutagenic in a mouse lymphoma mutation assay," meaning it caused minor genetic damages in mouse cells.

The report also said one of the substances produced when sucralose is broken down in the body is "weakly mutagenic in the Ames test." An Ames test is the standard method used to detect possible carcinogens.

"The sucralose people keep saying 'It's just a little bit of a mutagen,' " Dr. Schiffman said. "Well, I don't want a little bit of a mutagen in my food supply. How do you know what happens in a long life span or to the next generation or to your eggs and sperm? I don't feel like the issues have been answered."

Bonnie - This nutritionist is no champion of Splenda (sucralose). I have had many clients complain of side effects related to sucralose consumption, mainly g.i.-related. Once these clients went off sucralose, their symptoms went away. We already went through a sugar-free phase twenty years ago with aspartame (Equal, Nutrasweet) and saccharin (Sweet & Low). Reducing overall added sugar intake by eating real foods is the answer. Eating fake foods loaded with artifical sweeteners is not.

If you need to use an alternative sweetener, I recommend the herb stevia, which has no glycemic properties, no calories, helps regulate blood sugar, and has no side effects. I have hundreds of clients who use it daily with no problems.