Re: [at-l] Sweeteners

[bullard@northnet.org]

At 10:33 AM 5/29/99 -0400, Jan Ladd wrote:
>To avoid the use of Nutra-Sweet, I make Kool-aid with either Sweet and Low,
>Sugar Twin or Stevia from the health food store. Stevia is an herb with the
>equivalent sweetening power of the other sweeteners.
>
Nutra-Sweet is a brand name for aspartame. Sugar Twin and Sweet and Low are
saccharin. Saccharin got a bad name a number of years ago because a lab
study suggested that it *might* cause cancer. In the study lab rats were
fed a diet of nothing but saccharin. Evidently it didn't occur to the
researchers that the resulting cancer rate *might* had resulted from a
deficiency in the experimental diet of 100% saccharin. Further tests have
not supported that finding so it's still on the market but has been largely
displaced by aspartame because of it's slight aftertaste.

Aspartame has recently been blamed by some for an increase in brain tumors
however there has been no evidence to establish such a link. There are
several web sites which hype the theory and promote Stevia which is an
herbal sweetener. Personally I'm as skeptical of the claims of herbal
efficacy and harmlessness as I am of artificial additives. Just because
something is 'natural' doesn't make it harmless. Remember that most of the
mushrooms you see in the woods will make you very sick or kill you if you
eat them. You shouldn't believe everything you read on the web. Anybody who
knows a little HTML can say anything they want but it ain't necessarily
true. Jeeesh! Even I have a web site. Of course mine only has the
*absolute* truth. FCBB (Fingers Crossed Behind Back) ;)

Saunterer
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