Splenda Slips into School Bake Sales, But Is It Safe?
The top-selling artificial sweetener Spenda is now being promoted to
encourage kids and their parents to bake "lower-sugar treats  with SPLENDA®
Sugar Blend for Baking."

This is a development that some health experts such as Dr. Joseph Mercola
(who runs the popular mercola.com website) find quite alarming.

In fact, Splenda, Dr. Mercola notes, is a a sweetener that's "anything but
natural," despite a proliferation of clever propoganda.

Indeed, before you dash out to add Splenda to your favorite recipes to make
them lower calorie, you need to know, as Dr. Mercola and other experts point
out, that this artificial sweetener has been linked to such toxic side
effects as shrunken thymus glands, enlarged liver and kidneys, reduced
growth rate, aborted pregnancy and diarrhea.

Indeed, most consumers just aren't privy to this information. In fact, I
look on with worry every time I hear someone rave about this artificial
sweetener, which contains chlorine, a carcinogen -- that means it could be
cancer-causing.

In addition to chlorine, as Generation Green points out, Splenda uses
phosgene, described by the Centers for Disease Control as "a major
industrial chemical used to make plastics and pesticides," which at room
temperature is a "poisonous gas). The little yellow packets also contain
dextrose, a simple form of sugar, and maltodextrin, a digestible
carbohydrate derived from chemically modified cornstarch.

So before you start liberally sprinkling Splenda into your tea, thinking
that it's safe, I urge you to investigate the subject further by reading the
following sites:

 a.. Check out mercola.com's "Is Splenda Making You Sick? Find Out Some
Common Reaction Symptoms," the dangers of Splenda (sucralose), and extensive
testimonials from people, who've experienced all kinds of post-Splenda
health woes.
 b.. Read Generation Green's letter asking the Federal Trade Commission to
investigate Splenda's misleading marketing campaign. (The press release
points out that the Splenda ingredient label doesn't even list sugar as an
ingredient, as is widely advertised.)
 c.. Examine the website, TruthAboutSplenda.com. Ironically, this popular
Internet spot -- which presents some compelling research -- is sponsored by
the sugar industry, which is experiencing a drastic slowdown in sales, in
large part, due to Splenda's popularity and worries about obesity.
 d.. Visit SplendaExposed.com from toxicologist Dr. Janet Starr Hull.
 e.. And glance at the Sucralose Toxicity Information Center.
Despite the experts' worries, you've gotta hand it to McNeil Nutritionals --  
a division of Johnson & Johnson and makers of Splenda -- for their
innovative marketing gimmick to promote what they dub "Better-Than-Ever
School Bake Sales."

Of course, as we well know, if you nab children at a young age, that's an
almost sure-fire way to capture an almost fierce brand loyalty for life.

And, McNeil has the good sense to capitalize on the fact they're offering
these "complimentary reduced-sugar recipes... at a time when parental
concern about children's sugar consumption has reached its height."

In addition to recipes, McNeil is offering a free bake sale kit to school
parent groups and tips on how to incorporate fitness into a healthy eating
plan. An "Ultimate Bake Sale" contest is even planned.

But, I urge you, before you jump on the
ooh-let's-use-no-calorie-Splenda-in-our-recipes bandwagon, please give some
careful consideration to this man-made substance.

Why would you want to put such an artificial chemical in your body without
knowing for sure its long-term effects?