MyRecipes is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. But sugar alcohols fall into a "grey area" in the sweetener arena because they are actually carbohydrates (starches) more than they are sugars. If you get confused on which colored packet sweetener is what, which ones are safe, and which colors to avoid, remember this good rule of thumb: Color Matters. For an easy supper that you can depend on, we picked out some of our tried-and-true favorites that have gotten us through even the busiest of days. It is derived from a South African shrub, which is why it's often referred to as a "natural" sugar substitute. Hull's Detoxification Kit teaches you how to remove toxins within the body. Aspartame-based products have gained regulatory approvals permitting sale in more than 100 countries. Raw, unprocessed sugar (Sucanat®) Some people complain that it leaves a metallic after-taste, but at least that won't cause cancer! Date Sugar Sucralose is a zero-calorie artificial sweetener that's 600 times as sweet as sugar. [3] Other ingredients are aspartame, acesulfame potassium, cellulose gum, and calcium stearate. Part of their structure chemically resembles sugar and part is similar to alcohol. Fructose Xylitol Hull's, Have something to say? Hull, Schedule a phone consultation with Dr. Offers may be subject to change without notice. in 1999. (Sucralose is at the top.) Please keep in mind, these "grey area" sugar alcohols can give people gastric distress if consumed in excess, but are recommended over using the chemical sweetener substitutes. And as far as saccharin as a sweetener goes, it has no calories per serving and is about 300 times as sweet as regular table sugar. These people cannot properly metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine, which is one of the byproducts of digested aspartame. It's also less sweet than saccharin, only 200 times as sweet as table sugar. In French Canada, Equal is known as "Égal". Photo by blowbackphoto via Getty Images, What the Color of Your Artificial Sweetener Packet Can Tell You. When I used to work as a barista, I would silently snicker when customers specifically asked for blue sweetener packets, or pink sweetener as the case may have been. Mannitol MyRecipes may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. That's because I always assumed that there was no real difference between artificial sweeteners, and people arbitrarily preferred the sweetener in the blue packet versus the pink packet. The newcomer to this battle of the artificial sweeteners is stevia, which often comes in green or white and green packets. Copyright © 2011 Dr. Janet Starr Hull. Hair Mineral Analysis Testing Services Nutrition Toxins, Complete Alternative Nutrition Detoxification Program, Nutrition Counseling Phone Consultations Alternative Health Questions, Video series online you can instantly watch, Learn about effective, alternative cancer treatments, Learn about natural foods and vitamins help fight cancer, Individual, private nutrition consultations, Discuss your health goals and specific questions, Perfect for vitamin and toxin consultations, Discover hidden toxins in your body with Dr. Sucralose one of the newer artificial sweeteners out there, first approved by the F.D.A. Despite the misleading report over twenty years ago that saccharin causes cancer, in my opinion, saccharin remains the safest of all the artificial sweeteners. The Chicago advertising agency for G. D. Searle, Tatham, Laird & Kudner, recommended adding an "L" to the end of the name, to imply its taste is equal to sugar. It's probably best known by its brand name: Splenda. Maple Syrup What the Color of Your Artificial Sweetener Packet Can Tell You. Turbinado® Sugar Dr. That caused plenty of folks to avoid the little blue packets on the table throughout most of the 1990s. Everybody understands the stuggle of getting dinner on the table after a long day. Sorghum. Sugar alcohols (Polyols) I am not a fan of sugar alcohols because they are extracted from (lifted out of) their natural sources. Lactitol (Yes, you read that right.) Whether you're cooking for yourself or for a family, these easy dinners are sure to leave everyone satisfied and stress-free. That way, when you see generic pink sweetener, you've got a pretty good idea what you're dealing with. Sorbitol MyRecipes.com is part of the Allrecipes Food Group. Sugar alcohols are actually made from sugar. Honey The blue packet (Equal®) = makes you feel blue. Hull's Hair Analysis Program, Learn more about Dr. All rights reserved. Sugar alcohols blend well with other sugars, so they are commonly added to products such as gums, candies and mints, toothpaste and mouthwash. No forks or spoons required, just easy-to-pick-up party foods, so you can clean up in no time. Hull's Alternative Cancer Diet Program, Private, Phone Consultations with Dr. It's often described as the sweetener that tastes most like sugar, in part because it's derived from sucrose, which is regular old sugar. [5] These include The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo. It has no calories, is 200 times sweeter than sugar, and is the second most popular non-sugar sweetener in the United States. Merisant's NutraSweet company states that aspartame is now used in more than 5,000 products and consumed by some 250 million people worldwide. That would be white for regular white sugar, pink for saccharin (Sweet 'N Low), blue for aspartame (Equal), and yellow for sucralose (Splenda) -- the most common ones found in restaurants and used in artificially sweetened drinks. Post a comment or discuss articles on Dr. Janet Starr Hull's Free. [1] Originally, the product was to be named Equa. If you get confused on which colored packet sweetener is what, which ones are safe, and which colors to avoid, remember this good rule of thumb: Color Matters. Lo Han Sure, every type of artificial sweetener has a slightly different taste, but that's because they're made of totally different things. These days, there's even a growing body of evidence that saccharin "could actually be useful in developing treatments for aggressive cancers," according to research from experts at the University of Florida. When I used to work as a barista, I would silently snicker when customers specifically asked for blue sweetener packets, or pink sweetener as the case may have been. It is marketed as a tabletop sweetener by Merisant, a global corporation which also used to own the well-known NutraSweet brand when it was a subsidiary of Monsanto and which has headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, Switzerland, Mexico, and Singapore. The blue packets are filled with aspartame, which, unlike saccharin, is low-calorie, not zero-calorie—though it's only four calories per packet. Sugar packets are color-coded based on what's inside. Photo by Bill Boch via Getty Images, Credit: