McNeil as pure sucralose supplier and why I was looking

[Guest guest]

I've had a running e-mail discussion with Francesca on this subject, and she

asked me to post my findings to the list, so here goes.

I have never bought sucralose from Warren for two reasons.

The first is that I'm not sure I like the stuff well enough to invest that much

money in it. Sorry, every artificial sweetener I've ever tried has an

aftertaste to me - and yes I know many people who think they don't, but it's an

individual thing. Thus far I've managed with aspartame in pop (which I don't

drink much) and otherwise restricting (although not eliminating) any sweetener

use. So I wondered if the pure stuff tasted (to me) any differently from the

bulked stuff. Comments? The only replies I've received from those who've used

both, is that they taste the same.

While I have a wicked sweet tooth, I find Warren's recommended chocolate drink

recommendation more palatable without adding Splenda. I know - warped.

The second reason is that I keep kosher in my home both for myself and in order

to be able to host relatives who otherwise wouldn't eat here, even though I

will eat in restaurants and in other's homes. No, I don't have any nearby

relatives and they don't visit often, but this was something I 'inherited' from

my mother. I don't bring food into my home that is prepared in anyone else's

home that doesn't keep kosher, and beyond that, that I don't know well. That

leaves me with only one home in the area I live in from which I will accept

prepared food (a friend). The nearest relative from whom I would accept food

is about an 8-hour drive away, so you figure it out. You've got it - no carry

out/in pizza (ever, even before CRON), no TV dinners (I generally think the

kosher ones I can buy are awful, never mind the CRON issues) and when I have

people over I have to fend off offers of 'what can I bring?'. I buy only

kosher meat and poultry. No pork, no shellfish, no carryout (in?), no bringing

home restaurant leftovers, no matter what they are. When I bring food to a

company potluck, or to someone else's home (this is the midwest, it's often

expected) it's always in a disposable container of some sort. I sure like

those new Glad containers. As it happens, where I currently work has a large

number of Indians who are vegetarians, so there's a lot of food at a potluck

that I'm more than willing to try.

All of this is by way of explaining why I was looking for a direct source for

the sucralose, without having it pass through someone else's home. Never mind

any assurances as to how it is handled - for me it won't fly. And I could find

no source except McNeil for the straight sucralose. There were some cases

where products were being brought in from other countries, in either liquid,

solid, or pelleted form, with either no diluents or fiber-based adjuncts, but

these do not seem to be available any longer - I suspect McNeil enforced some

aspect of their agreements with distributors in other countries. I even tried

to order the pellets from a company in New Zealand, but they were going out of

business and would not deal with credit cards. I recently ordered some from

Australia - let's see if they turn up.

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An aside -

For those using pure sucralose for blood sugar issues, and who are looking for

low glycemic index foods, see

http://www.mendosa.com/chanadal.html

This is great stuff, just from a taste perspective, let alone GI rating. I am

not diabetic but have relatives who are. The page's author recommends a number

of sources. I've bought from

https://www.bobsredmill.com/catalog/index.php?action=showproducts & category_ID=17

after I tried to get my local supermarket to order it and they said they would

but never did. They carry other items from this company, but I had no success

in getting them to order this, so I bought a case. Because of the weight, the

shipping charges are high, so a local source would be better.

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Anyway - I'm a chemist and when I called the Splenda phone line and asked if

the commercially available stuff was the same as the consumer product, and

someone told me yes, I knew this was rubbish from the info on their website.

So I called McNeil again, and navigated their voicemail to the manufacturers

supply office, left my name and number, and someone called me back.

They thought I was somewhat nuts (no comments, please). But they finally

coughed up the following info:

They refer to the stuff sold to manufacturers as sucralose. Only the bulked,

packaged, consumer product is called Splenda.

The powdered sucralose is sold in a minimum unit of 1 kilogram, at a price of

$200/lb. Yes, they mixed units. That makes the kilo come in at about $440.

The next larger unit is 10 kilos.

The liquid comes in a minimum unit of 4 3.6 liter (about a gallon) containers,

and the liquid is 25% by weight sucralose. The cost here is also $200/lb of

sucralose (not per pound of solution), which I calculate to be a total of about

7.9 lb of sucralose, or $1800. The next larger unit is a 20 kilo drum. I

suppose the larger minimum unit makes up for the cost of handling the solution

- or they just bottle it at the point in the manufacturing process where they

would dry it to produce powder, which saves them that cost. The shipping would

definitely be more than for the powder. The next larger unit is a 20 kg drum.

They thought it wouldn't be something a consumer would buy because of the

intensity factor, but they would sell it. The minimum expenditure would then

be $440 for a kilo. That would be 600 kilo-equivalents in Warren's terms. I

would expect a shipping charge from McNeil as well, which would raise the cost

somewhat.

They recommend either the liquid or the solid to a manufacturer based on the

final product, and the blending requirements. Think about it - the amount of

powder used is going to be minuscule relative to the other ingredients, and

must be blended thoroughly for distribution in a batch of a product. And they

ship the powder either under refrigeration or via next-day courier. There

doesn't seem to be the same issue for the liquid. (This is from the website

documentation.)

You can find the technical specifications for the manufacturers products at

http://www.ingredient.splenda.com/ (this is the 'Ingredient Partner' link on

the left on the www.splenda.com page), as well as the contact info and so

forth.

Interestingly, the stuff has both kosher and halal certifications.

No, I currently have no intention of ordering a kilo of the stuff.

So there you have it. BTW - I came across another site that was selling the

Splenda 2000 packet case for $69.95, on sale for $62.95. Makes the $39.99 case

look like an even better deal if you want to go that route. I've seen at least

one site with nutritional information posted for Splenda granular and packets

that conforms to an earlier post, and says they have the same calorie/carb

level. However, they can't have the same bulking agents, or the packets would

have to hold 2 tsp. to be equivalent to sugar measures the way the granular

product is. They may still have the same content, with the granular puffed up

to be equal to sugar measures, but I'm not sure.

Iris

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