tiggerlover
Still waiting for "the talk"
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2000
- Messages
- 10,314
I found this article on Splenda on the WW website and thought I would share it here. Does anyone on WISH have any first hand experience with cooking with Splenda?
How Sweet It Is
Splenda: It's a small word but it's causing a big stir. Why? This relative newcomer to the sugar-substitute scene has been approved as an all-purpose sweetener by the Food and Drug Administration, which means you can cook and bake with it, not just use it to sweeten your coffee or tea. In fact, Splenda, or sucralose, has the same volume as ordinary sugar, so you can swap it cup for cup for sugar in your favorite recipes yet it's calorie free. How's that possible? Although made from sugar, Splenda passes through the body undigested.
But is it safe? Yes, says Valerie Duffy, PhD, RD, associate professor at the University of Connecticut's School of Allied Health. Splenda might seem brand-new to you, but it has undergone safety testing for more than 20 years since its discovery in 1976. And it's already in use in some popular products like Diet RC Cola, Ocean Spray Lightstyle fruit drinks and Log Cabin Sugar Free Low Calorie Syrup.
Measuring Up
Unlike Nutrasweet and Equal, which lose their sweetening power upon heating, Splenda maintains its sweetness when cooked. Sweet 'N Low maintains its sweetness, too but unlike Splenda, says Duffy, Sweet 'N Low does not contain a bulking agent and as a result it sometimes yields baked goods with poor volume or the wrong texture. For multi-purpose use, then, Splenda appears to be the hands-down no-calorie sweetener of choice; the other sweeteners seem best off left to beverages and no-bake recipes.
What about its flavor? "None of the sweeteners have a perfect sweet taste," comments Duffy, who points out that companies are trying to combine two sweeteners in certain products Pepsi One, for example to better mimic sugar's taste. Splenda seems to come pretty close, though, if the many positive reviews on our Community boards about its use in baking are any indication (see below).
Splenda also seems to fill another niche: Everyone is born with a sense of taste for sweet things and for some these tastebuds are stronger than for others. The use of Splenda and other non-nutritive sweeteners can therefore play an important role in weight management. Duffy warns us, however, that although these sweeteners are "free" foods by themselves, users have to remember that the foods containing them are not calorie-free.
The bottom line? You still need to pay attention to calories, but at least now you have a choice. You can enjoy a piece of your Aunt Millie's famous apple pie for 300 calories, say, with real sugar, or you can dig into the same pie made with Splenda for approximately 225 calories a slice.
How Sweet It Is
Splenda: It's a small word but it's causing a big stir. Why? This relative newcomer to the sugar-substitute scene has been approved as an all-purpose sweetener by the Food and Drug Administration, which means you can cook and bake with it, not just use it to sweeten your coffee or tea. In fact, Splenda, or sucralose, has the same volume as ordinary sugar, so you can swap it cup for cup for sugar in your favorite recipes yet it's calorie free. How's that possible? Although made from sugar, Splenda passes through the body undigested.
But is it safe? Yes, says Valerie Duffy, PhD, RD, associate professor at the University of Connecticut's School of Allied Health. Splenda might seem brand-new to you, but it has undergone safety testing for more than 20 years since its discovery in 1976. And it's already in use in some popular products like Diet RC Cola, Ocean Spray Lightstyle fruit drinks and Log Cabin Sugar Free Low Calorie Syrup.
Measuring Up
Unlike Nutrasweet and Equal, which lose their sweetening power upon heating, Splenda maintains its sweetness when cooked. Sweet 'N Low maintains its sweetness, too but unlike Splenda, says Duffy, Sweet 'N Low does not contain a bulking agent and as a result it sometimes yields baked goods with poor volume or the wrong texture. For multi-purpose use, then, Splenda appears to be the hands-down no-calorie sweetener of choice; the other sweeteners seem best off left to beverages and no-bake recipes.
What about its flavor? "None of the sweeteners have a perfect sweet taste," comments Duffy, who points out that companies are trying to combine two sweeteners in certain products Pepsi One, for example to better mimic sugar's taste. Splenda seems to come pretty close, though, if the many positive reviews on our Community boards about its use in baking are any indication (see below).
Splenda also seems to fill another niche: Everyone is born with a sense of taste for sweet things and for some these tastebuds are stronger than for others. The use of Splenda and other non-nutritive sweeteners can therefore play an important role in weight management. Duffy warns us, however, that although these sweeteners are "free" foods by themselves, users have to remember that the foods containing them are not calorie-free.
The bottom line? You still need to pay attention to calories, but at least now you have a choice. You can enjoy a piece of your Aunt Millie's famous apple pie for 300 calories, say, with real sugar, or you can dig into the same pie made with Splenda for approximately 225 calories a slice.
I searched the Splenda site and couldn't find it.
