The latest on Splenda

The makers of Splenda continue to spar with the sugar industry over market share, research, health and ethics.  Recently, the attorneys for the sugar industry employed researchers from Duke to perform a rat study documenting health concerns associated with Splenda.  Depending on which way your cynicism runs, the results were either not surprising or startling:  People employed for a forensic study found what they were paid to find:  adulterating your food with chemicals is not healthy. 

The Duke researchers determined that rats were more likely to become obese and that their intestinal production of healthy bacteria was disrupted by Splenda.  The New York Times did not report how much Splenda the rats were fed:  probably 8 times their bodyweight each day.  For an undisclosed reason, the judge in the litigation between these "heavyweights" refused to admit evidence or conclusions from the study in the upcoming trial.