Splenda?

I'm a bit confused as to whether Splenda will ferment or not. I've seen it said on these forums (mostly about sweetening Apfelwein, which is what I'm looking at doing as well) that Splenda is non-fermentable. I looked at a package of Splenda, and the very first ingredient listed is Dextrose, which is fermentable. I did a little research, and found this link to the FDA's website on another forum:
http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/04p0294/04P-0294_EMC-000002-02.pdf
Throughout the document, it states things such as:

SPLENDA® Granular product does contain fermentable carbohydrate (maltodextrin) per 0.5 g serving.

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Which confuses me even further, since it lists maltodextrin (the second ingredient listed) as the fermentable carbohydrate, and doesn't mention the dextrose.

To further confuse me, the same FDA document states this:

McNeil is unaware of any evidence showing the fermentability of sucralose.

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Also, at http://splendatruth.com/ (run by McNeil Nutritionals, the people who do Splenda) it says

SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener is the brand name for sucralose.

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Which seems to imply that Splenda is pure sucralose, contradicting the package that says sucralose is the least common ingredient in package next to dextrose (most) and maltodextrine (in the middle).

So after all this confusion, my conclusion is to come here and hope someone who has actually used Splenda in a brew will reply. If I put Splenda in something to sweeten it, will the yeast eat it up?

There are plenty of things in splenda as you saw on the ingredients list. But on whole it is not fermentable. I am kind of confused by your questions. You seemed to have a mix of complex chemistry based questions about its contents, but then you end with really just wanting to know if it will sweeten your brew without fermenting.

I personally don't know enough to go into the higher level of intelligent discussion, but if you really just want to know if you can sweeten your brew safely? THen yeah, you can.

I just read your sources. According to the first, only the small packets contain dextrose. In bulk granular form, it's all maltodextrin and sucralose, neither of which are fermentable.

Also, be sure you don't get the sugar blend intended for baking - roughly 50% of that product will be fermentable.

I have an organic chemist buddy, who also is really into the low carb thing. He explained the Splenda thing to me in layman's terms, and I was like, no dude, go even lower, I have my MBA.

So, the simple explanation is that Splenda, although it is the nearest low cal/diet alternative to real sugar you can get, is an engineered product.

They start with real sugar, then do some chemist type stuff to it, and the result it what's called a 'left handed' sugar, which basically means it won't play with everyone else. It has a similar taste to regular(right handed?) sugar, but it won't interact chemically in the same way. For this reason, it won't ferment, and if you're on a low carb diet, it won't raise your blood sugar.

So that's my two cents, but hey, I took the afternoon off to watch the finals and am on my 2nd IPA. So there you go.

EDIT - cleaned up my beerish grammar.

I wouldn't use that crap if you paid me.

Hmm.. lets bond chlorine to a sugar molecule and do no long term testing. Oh yeah!

Lets put it in our coffee while eating our transfat margarine and eating sugar free (aspartame) jam.

Denny's Evil Concoctions said:

I wouldn't use that crap if you paid me.

Hmm.. lets bond chlorine to a sugar molecule and do no long term testing. Oh yeah!

Lets put it in our coffee while eating our transfat margarine and eating sugar free (aspartame) jam.

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Of course! Where you been the last 30 years, Denny! Let's have a carpet company create food products(Monsanto/aspartame).

Is Splenda cool in CA? The FDA here is a joke, but I thought perhaps CA has higher standards. I heard that a former Monsanto board member was actually the approver when the FDA greenlighted aspartame.

blacklab said:

Of course! Where you been the last 30 years, Denny! Let's have a carpet company create food products(Monsanto/aspartame).

Is Splenda cool in CA? The FDA here is a joke, but I thought perhaps CA has higher standards. I heard that a former Monsanto board member was actually the approver when the FDA greenlighted aspartame.

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And it was Rumsfield that pushed it through after thet denied it several times.

Yeah, It's approved up here. There is an ongoing legal battle with a non GMO farmer who's crop was infected by GMO pollen from a GMO crop nearby, and Monsanto was suing him because he had their DNA in his crop.

are there any health risks with splenda, real or imaginary?

I feel like I should be more specific to my question, as the responses seem to be all over the place.

I know what sucralose is. It's a sucrose molecule with three of the hydroxide ions replaced with chloride. I just want to know if anyone has put Splenda in a brew, and what happened.

OFF-TOPIC SECTION: In looking into this, I inadvertently found tons of pages about the health concerns with sucralose, and they all pretty much conclude that there is nothing dangerous about it. About 92%-98% comes straight out of you without your body messing with it (through feces and urine), and the other 2%-8% that your body does metabolize has been shown to have no negative effects at all until a ridiculous amount is consumed (thousands of packets per day sustained over months), which can be said about anything.
For some reason, aspartame came into this thread as well. All the health risks with aspartame were just a huge internet "hoax" that were unsupported by fact. All tests have shown that aspartame is perfectly safe unless you eat a ridiculous amount of it (hundreds of packets per day over extended periods of time). I don't understand why people jump all over unsupported claims of something being bad for you, but are so apprehensive to believe that something is perfectly fine. Everybody loves a bad guy, I guess.
Basically, what you hear about Splenda giving you cancer and whatnot is all media hype. It's just like the killer bee epidemic we had in the 90s, and countless other things since then.

Back on topic, I found out that the reason sucralose is such a minor ingredient in Splenda packets is because it is so sweet. Apparently they put a tiny bit of it in with a bunch of dextrose to give it a consistency and level-of-sweetness similar to sugar.

I just read your sources. According to the first, only the small packets contain dextrose. In bulk granular form, it's all maltodextrin and sucralose, neither of which are fermentable.

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The same source says that maltodextrin IS fermentable, though -- check out the first quote in my original post from it. I didn't realize only the packets have Dextrose. I was basing the ingredient list off a packet that I picked up, not the FDA article. Do you know if that would make a difference?

I think that article is talking about fermentability of maltodextrin inside the human body (i.e., by bacteria). It is NOT fermentable by brewer's yeast and is a common adjunct used to add body and mouthfeel. Neither is sucralose fermentable by brewer's yeast, which is the reason that Splenda is so commonly recommended for backsweetening live beer. I've used it for that purpose (from a bag bought at the grocery store, pic below), and and I can confirm that it DOES NOT ferment. Be careful...a little goes a long way!

Yuri_Rage said:

I think that article is talking about fermentability of maltodextrin inside the human body (i.e., by bacteria). It is NOT fermentable by brewer's yeast and is a common adjunct used to add body and mouthfeel. Neither is sucralose fermentable by brewer's yeast, which is the reason that Splenda is so commonly recommended for backsweetening live beer. I've used it for that purpose, and and I can confirm that it DOES NOT ferment. Be careful...a little goes a long way!

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Thanks! That is exactly the response I was hoping for. I saw that a lot of the times they talked about fermentation in the article were in reference to the dental applications of Splenda, but I didn't know if it translated at all the brewing.

I used Splenda in my apfelwein to sweeten when I bottled along with the dextrose to carb. Worked great and tasted awesome! I also used baking Splenda once to carb and sweeten at the same time. It worked and was also good, but I had less control over carb vs. sweet. Like Yuri says though, use sparingly.

Oh good grief. Some of you think all things are hoaxes.

When you are dieing of brain cancer in the 140 degree heat wearing your air mask.... I suppose next you'll tell me the whole cigarettes are bad for you thing was just a hoax.

It;s suprising what you can find on the FDA's own website:

http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/dailys/03/Apr03/042503/02P-0317_emc-000245.txt

And the non-scam, non-conspiracy theory:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp

It is funny you say that the article you put is from the FDA website and then direct the lnk to a paper, not the website at all. Within that snopes article, please find the actual FDA website stating:

"Is aspartame safe?

A: After reviewing scientific studies, FDA determined in 1981 that aspartame was safe for use in foods. In 1987, the General Accounting Office investigated the process surrounding FDA's approval of aspartame and confirmed the agency had acted properly. However, FDA has continued to review complaints alleging adverse reactions to products containing aspartame. To date, FDA has not determined any consistent pattern of symptoms that can be attributed to the use of aspartame, nor is the agency aware of any recent studies that clearly show safety problems.

Carefully controlled clinical studies show that aspartame is not an allergen. However, certain people with the genetic disease phenylketonuria (PKU), and pregnant women with hyperphenylalanine (high levels of phenylalanine in blood) have a problem with aspartame because they do not effectively metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine, one of aspartame's components. High levels of this amino acid in body fluids can cause brain damage. Therefore, FDA has ruled that all products containing aspartame must include a warning to phenylketonurics that the sweetener contains phenylalanine."


Either way, I do not have the time or the need to get into a debate here. To each is own. I just thought the thread needed both sides of the argument.

Sucralose isn't aspartame.

Did you read that article? Not once is any test or experiment cited, or even MENTIONED. The "evidence" he presents is that sometimes scientists are paid off by industry to say that things are OK when they aren't.

Here is a study by a European Oncology group:
http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/cg...me&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

Here is one by a European food safety group:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1178620765743.htm

And here is an article about a study by the National Cancer Institute:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/265559_soda05.html

I would say that this actual evidence is a lot more convincing than someone who doesn't even pretend to have any scientific evidence. Regardless of what you think about the FDA, there's plenty of other evidence to say that this is a bunch of hype without much substance.

Kayos, how much splenda did you use for a 5 gallon batch of apfelwein? I am planning on making some soon, and was wondering how it tasted and how much to add.

I actually liked the Splenda for baking the best as it carbed and sweetened at the same time. I did it per bottle.

12 oz. 1 tsp
22 oz 2 tsp

adding aspertame to anything for human consumption is blasphemy.

Yuri_Rage said:

Sucralose isn't aspartame.

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Allow myself to quote myself.

Researching Splenda I found these tidbits...Sounds kinda scary to me...

* It was accidentally discovered while trying to create a new insecticide


* It is regarded as “a chemical cousin to DDT”


* Up to 12% of Splenda consumed may permanently absorb into your fat cells and “continue to poison you indefinitely”


* Digestion products of Splenda can cause liver damage and deplete antioxidants


* It can cross the placenta and affect the fetus during pregnancy

* It can be VERY dangerous for diabetics because one of the sugars in Splenda (maltodextrin/dextrose) “will rapidly raise blood sugar”


* Splenda packets are actually 99% sugar, 1% sucralose, and costs almost 40 times more than sugar


* Splenda is NOT good for baking because, when heated, it can break down to release a hazardous chemical called hydrogen chloride

* Splenda is an organochlorine, a chemical that is a carbon and hydrogen molecule with attached chlorine atoms. Splenda is the only organochlorine ever used for human consumption. Other organochlorines you may be familiar with are: DDT, Mustard Gas, Chloroform, PCBs, as well as other insecticides, pesticides, and solvents.

comj49 said:

Kayos, how much splenda did you use for a 5 gallon batch of apfelwein? I am planning on making some soon, and was wondering how it tasted and how much to add.

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I first added 2 cups to 5 gallons and it became cloying by the time I got half way done with the batch. I later did a batch with 3/4 cup and it was fine.

Thwizzit said:

Researching Splenda I found these tidbits...Sounds kinda scary to me...

* It was accidentally discovered while trying to create a new insecticide


* It is regarded as “a chemical cousin to DDT”


* Up to 12% of Splenda consumed may permanently absorb into your fat cells and “continue to poison you indefinitely”


* Digestion products of Splenda can cause liver damage and deplete antioxidants


* It can cross the placenta and affect the fetus during pregnancy

* It can be VERY dangerous for diabetics because one of the sugars in Splenda (maltodextrin/dextrose) “will rapidly raise blood sugar”

<sniped for brevity>

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Citation Needed.

Anyways, I do like the idea of Splenda (or it's walmart brand, which exists) as a sweeter, non-fermentable. An experiment could be using Lactose, Maltodextrin and Splenda. See how each change the character(obviously expect the characteristics of each sugar to show through)

Ok, so I went through a couple threads to find out how much Splenda to use to sweeten some cider I just finished up. I did (2) 1 gallon batches. In reading, my guess would be 3 tbsp Splenda, 3 tbsp corn sugar (to carb) per gallon or 6 tbsp of the baking type of Splenda to accomplish both sweetening and carb. This sound about right?

Thwizzit said:

Researching Splenda I found these tidbits...Sounds kinda scary to me...

* It was accidentally discovered while trying to create a new insecticide


* It is regarded as “a chemical cousin to DDT”


* Up to 12% of Splenda consumed may permanently absorb into your fat cells and “continue to poison you indefinitely”


* Digestion products of Splenda can cause liver damage and deplete antioxidants


* It can cross the placenta and affect the fetus during pregnancy

* It can be VERY dangerous for diabetics because one of the sugars in Splenda (maltodextrin/dextrose) “will rapidly raise blood sugar”


* Splenda packets are actually 99% sugar, 1% sucralose, and costs almost 40 times more than sugar


* Splenda is NOT good for baking because, when heated, it can break down to release a hazardous chemical called hydrogen chloride

* Splenda is an organochlorine, a chemical that is a carbon and hydrogen molecule with attached chlorine atoms. Splenda is the only organochlorine ever used for human consumption. Other organochlorines you may be familiar with are: DDT, Mustard Gas, Chloroform, PCBs, as well as other insecticides, pesticides, and solvents.

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Just because Splenda is an organochlorine doesn't mean that it is anything at all similar to DDT, PCBs, ect. the only commonality that these molecules have with Splenda is that they have carbon and chlorine. They have completely different chemistry.

If you want to be worried about organochlorines you should start worrying about disinfection byproducts--trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids, among other, possibly unknown halogenated organics--in every glass of water you drink, if you have a city connection.

Let's not forget about the silent, deadly killer; dihydrogen monoxide.

jfrizzell said:

Let's not forget about the silent, deadly killer; dihydrogen monoxide.

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I see what you did there