Equal And Splenda Settle Lawsuit

Artificial Sweetener Had Accused Yellow Rival Of Suggesting It Is Healthier Than Other Sweeteners

(AP)  The makers of Splenda and Equal on Friday settled a lawsuit over Splenda's disputed advertising slogan — “Made from sugar so it tastes like sugar.”

The settlement came after the jury announced that it had reached a verdict.

Chicago-based Merisant Co., which makes Equal, accused Splenda of confusing consumers into thinking its product was healthier and more natural than other artificial sweeteners. Splenda's marketer, McNeil Nutritionals, countered that it simply has a better product backed by superior advertising.

A McNeil spokeswoman in the courtroom said the amount of the settlement wouldn't be announced. The two sides planned to issue a joint statement later Friday.

Merisant was seeking more than $200 million from McNeil — at least $183 million for unfair profits since 2003 and compensation for at least $25 million in lost sales.

The active ingredient in Splenda starts as pure cane sugar but is chemically altered to create a compound that contains no calories, according to McNeil. The final product contains no sugar.

The one-month trial focused mostly on Splenda's advertising slogan, but it ended in a settlement after the jury said it had reached a verdict Friday afternoon.

Settlement talks began after jurors asked the judge for a calculator and a white board, an indication that they were computing damages to be awarded to Merisant. Lawyers rushed to the courtroom to try to delay the jury's announcement and then huddled in a courthouse meeting room.

McNeil's own consultants said its slogan confused potential customers, some of whom thought that Splenda was sugar without the calories, Merisant's attorneys said. McNeil rejected a plan to add the phrase “does not contain sugar” to the front of Splenda's yellow box, which might have cleared up the confusion, Merisant said.

Because the manufacturing of Splenda begins with sugar, McNeil can accurately claim that Splenda is “made from” sugar, according to its attorneys.

Splenda is used in more than 4,000 food and drink products and is included in recipes at numerous chain restaurants.

It had 60 percent of the consumer artificial sweetener market last year, according to the research firm Information Resources Inc. Equal, which comes in blue packets and is made with aspartame, and Sweet'N Low, in pink packets and made with saccharin, each held about 14 percent of the consumer market.

McNeil is a unit of Johnson & Johnson based in suburban Philadelphia and markets Splenda for its manufacturer, London-based Tate & Lyle PLC. It is also defending its Splenda advertising claims in a separate lawsuit in California filed by a group of U.S. sugar manufacturers.

[hsinco-2009]

Let's face it, Spenda TASTES better than the others. Tough noogies aspartame and saccharin, you are sore losers. Make a product that doesn't taste like chemicals.

[jscribe58]

I'm with Splenda on this one. Years ago, I used to buy it online because the makers of aspertame were trying so hard to keep them off the market. Finally, they broke through, and became the biggest simply because they are the best.

I am a diabetic, and like many diabetics know that aspertame has been known to raise sugar levels, where Splenda does not. Aspertame has been known to harm people in tests - Splenda has not. They say it tastes like sugar because IT DOES taste like sugar. There is no aftertaste like the others- all products sweetened with Splenda taste the same as sugared products. For Splenda, this is just another case. They're used to the other guys coming after them.

[asor1-2009]

Both Splenda and Equal have contributed negatively to IBS sufferers. Some chemicals, or chemical changes, cause problems for thousands of users.

[oleander8]

Go Splenda!! You have the better product.

[linfinster]

I did think Splenda had sugar in it and use it over the other ones because it tates better. Do you think that the chemicals they use are good for us? I wonder about that. All our foods are being infected with natural and man made chemicals that wreak havoc on our bodies and cause desease and weakness. We have so many heath problems with high fructose corn syrup being used in everything, being cheaper than sugar. All for profit. Evil.

[feelfree1]

Rumsfeld is responsible for forcing this dangerous poison into our food supply.


"Donald Rumsfeld was on President Reagan's transition team and the day after he took office he appointed an FDA Commissioner who would approve aspartame."

www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2004/05/07/aspartame_gate_when_donald_rumsfeld_was_ceo_of_searle.htm

[ericdobbs]

I guess the distributors of aspartame lost the shelf space wars in the supermarkets, so now they are resorting to the courts. It won't work. They'll get a little money out of it now, but they will still lose with consumers. Once you lose shelf space to a competitor with a better product, you are in trouble. The makers and distributers of Kool-Aid knew this and have effectively stifled the revival of Fizzies by blocking access to shelf space, thus depriving most home mixed soft drink consumers of the chance to try a different and interesting product. Until they find it online, that is. Fizzies, which appeared back when I was a kid in the 50s and 60s, were sweetened with cyclamate, another artificial sweetener that allegedly caused cancer in lab animals when they were marinaded in the stuff. Now that there are alternative artificial sweeteners, Fizzies are back, but you probably won't find them a the "bricks and mortar" grocery store.

[ericdobbs]

This is a follow-up to my previous post. Fizzies reappeared in the 90s, but only briefly on account of the shelf space denial problem. Apparently they are back again in yet a third introduction. I hope they can stick around this time. I will be ordering some and sending them to my daughter at college so she and her friends can have a "happy Fizzies party."

[ericdobbs]

This is a follow-up to my previous comment. Fizzies reappeared in the mid 90s, containing aspartame, ironically enough, but they could not gain shelf space. They are back now manufactured by a different company and are available from several sources online. I will be ordering some and sending them to my daughter at college so she and her friends can have a "happy Fizzies party."

[angelwhalo]

They start with pure cane sugar, chemically alter it to a final product that contains no sugar!! Hummm, So we are just putting a chemical in our food and drinks.

[angelwhalo]

They start with pure cane sugar, chemically alter it to a final product that contains no sugar!! Hummm, So we are just putting a chemical in our food and drinks. Do we realy want to do that?

[ander241]

The Aspartame website declares that Aspartame does not cause headaches. However, as a lifelong headache sufferer, I checked myself in at the Diamond Headache Clinic n Chicago. Amongst the list of items to avoid due them causing headaches is Aspartame. I am a believer in not taking anything with Aspartame in it. It does cause headaches as many of you already know.

[cracea]

I think this lawsuit is pretty silly. Splenda tastes better, in my opinion, than aspartame, so it sells better. Period.

That said, aspartame is NOT particularly dangerous. With the exception of some people who get headaches, most of the "facts" out there are bogus, the result of a long-ago internet hoax. Most of the symptoms (like the sore throat thing) people experience have been tested, and in blind tests, people who THOUGHT they were getting aspartame got the symptoms whether they actually got aspartame or not. Power of suggestion is a strong thing.

See the Hoaxbusters site, or the Urban Legends site, or the Junk Science site, or the American Diabetes Association site for more info on this pervasive myth.

I hate the taste of aspartame and find their efforts to drive down Splenda silly, but I am SO tired of reading this hoax everytime someone mentions aspartame. Check the facts, folks. Otherwise you're just another sucker waiting for Bill Gates to send you 100 dollars for forwarding an e-mail.

[puremcdowell]

splenda is the better choice as I have a son(16)who has been dealing with diabetes for 2 years and as the doctor advised us to stop using sugar. after trying the pink packets of sweetner, then the blue, and last the yellow packets, my child claims that splenda is the best in his own opinion. as you know kids are the hardest to please, if splenda is the number one choice for taste and the blue packet is a close second. even when you bake goodies you can be assured that your baked goods come out not only better for you, but the taste is great my boy dosent feel he has to restrict all of his favorite sweets

[drinuk]

Those claiming that Aspartame is harmless are either fools or belonging to the public relations company employed by the Manufacturer. Aspartame is an enormous cash cow being milked by over a 1000 food & beverage manufacturers, any bad publicity would be financially devastating to them. With that in mind it is hardly surprising that they spend millions on the defence of this evil poison.

There has been very meaningful and genuine research into the side effects, they are most certainly detremental. www.sweetpoison.com will give you that facts, including INDEPENDENT Italian studies which state that this product can cause tumours. Over ninety other conditions are also mentioned which leaves very serious question marks hanging over the FDA approval.

Moderate use of natural sugars are obviously less harmful than these chemicals and as Cancer is most certainly on the increase it must be logical that we look at all the chemicals we ingest.

[drinuk]

gracea !! You know TOO much ! obviously working for a PR company and contracted to a Big Pharma company from Japan.

Those wishing to learn about ASPARTAME and it's effects should check out www.sweetpoison.com

[drinuk]

gracea !! You know TOO much ! obviously working for a PR company and contracted to a Big Pharma company from Japan.

Those wishing to learn about ASPARTAME and it's effects should check out www.sweetpoison.com

[bad_product]

I am surprised Splenda is even allowed to be sold, considering the stomach problems it causes. Haven't any of you Splenda users noticed that you poop ALOT more and that it is almost dhiarea? My wife, two sons, and my parents all were "sick" at the same time. We later realized that it was the Splenda. We even made sure my stopping using it for awhile, then trying it again. Gas, bloating, running poop. And, every now and then we goof up and buy something with that poison in it and get 'sick' again. then we look at the package, and throw it away! I'll take the 'headaches' from Aspartame any day!

[drinuk]

Bad_Product, You will do a lot more than blaze a trail to the lavatory if you persist on using Aspartame. You'll be enjoying a dose of Chemo or worse. Check on the facts.

[sy2502]

They start with pure cane sugar, chemically alter it to a final product that contains no sugar!! Hummm, So we are just putting a chemical in our food and drinks.
Posted by angelwhalo at 04:33 AM : May 13, 2007

Dude, I hate to burst your bubble, but sugar is a chemical, the coffee in which you stir it is a chemical, everything is a chemical. Claiming a distinction between "natural" and "chemical" is ignorant. Everything in nature is chemical compounds. Peanuts according to your definition, are "natural" but to one who's allergic they are more deadly than your "chemical" Splenda.