SALT LAKE CITY — A few weeks ago, Facebook notified me that sucralose, the main ingredient in Splenda, causes cancer. Splenda is a popular artificial sweetener because a small amount can pack a real sweet punch without the unsweet calories that accompany other sources of sugar.

Headlines like this are nothing new. A new study uncovers the hidden dangers of artificial sweeteners on the regular. But the jury is still out in my opinion. This particular study was conducted on mice. Animal studies are a great place (research wise, we’ll leave the ethics out of this post today) to see if something may have an effect on human populations. With that said, it’s a great starting place, it’s in no way an ending place. Humans are not equal to mice. Thank goodness. So can we all agree that if the findings of a study indicate that the mice who received high doses of sucralose also had an increased incidence of cancerous tumors, humans would succumb to the same effects?

Here’s why:

• Humans do not equal mice, even 700+ mice studied does not equal a human
• This dose response study found significant correlation between the mice that were dosed at 2000ppm sucralose as well as 16,000ppm sucralose. In a dose-response study researchers are looking for health effects from different doses of a substance, if there is a correlation we’d assume that the higher doses would have higher risk of developing the negative health effects. It’s no surprise that the high dose group’s response was significant, but none of the other groups were.
• The amounts tested were very concentrated, and do on mice. West Virginia University says that 1 mg= 1 ppm/1kg, so 2000ppm=2000mg/kg.

Related:

Health effects of artificial sweeteners: Where do we stand?

Sugar — how can something so good be bad for us?

Therefore, a 150-pound person would have to ingest in excess of 136,000mg or 136g sucralose to potentially have a negative effect. Or, as the principal researcher told Forbes.com journalist that 500ppm=60mg/kg weight. Even with his math, this person would be getting 60mg/kg sucralose, when the FDA indicates that 5mg/kg is safe. That’s 12 times the reported safe level for human consumption.

I’ve never been one to say that if something is good, even more is better. Same goes for artificial sweeteners, and really all foods.

So, after all this blabbering, what’s the take-home message? Well, the jury is still out on determining any connections between artificial sweeteners and cancer or health.

I personally limit my diet soda intake and intake of other artificial sweeteners because they make me crave more sugar. That’s setting me up for a rough day, so I limit. But for you, if you love artificial sweetened beverages or foods, just aim to stay around or below the FDA recommended limits to reduce your risk of developing any diseases that could be associated with artificial sweetener intake.

And, let’s rename the article I read: Splenda ingredient, sucralose linked to leukemia. In mice when they’re given a crap-load of it. How scary does that sound?

Rebecca is a Registered Dietitian. She blogs over at betrulynourished.com, works at the University of Utah at a health and fitness testing facility, as a clinical inpatient hospital dietician, and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree.

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