Crystal Light's Sweetener Schizophrenia

Why have Splenda in some products, aspartame in others?

I have been so thrilled to see the reemergence of Splenda showing up in a lot of products this year that used to contain aspartame in them. From Smuckers jelly to Mt. Olive pickles, it looks like the food manufacturers are FINALLY listening to the concerns of low-carbers and others who don't want aspartame in their diet at all anymore. Yet, it's almost impossible to avoid it nowadays.

For example, last night my throat started feeling a little sore and dry, so I knew a cold was coming on. I bought some sugar-free Robitussen when it was on sale a few months ago and didn't read the labels. Guess what the #1 ingredient in it is? It's ASPARTAME! UGH! Oh well, this is the only exception I'll make to my aspartame-free diet plan because I want to feel better from my cold and Robitussen usually does the trick.

While the move from Nutrasweet to Splenda has been slow, it is happening. But have you seen what Kraft Foods is doing with their Crystal Light products? One of my readers wrote to me so excited about discovering that Crystal Light now has a Splenda/acesulfame potassium (ACE-K) blend to sweeten their products and proudly displays the Splenda logo on their packaging. I was not aware of this, so I did a little investigating today and found something rather odd.

It is true that the ready-to-drink Crystal Light products do have Splenda and ACE-K in them, but the powdered versions of Crystal Light still contains aspartame. HUH?! What's up with that? If you are going to use Splenda in the ones that are already mixed, then why not use Splenda in the ones you mix yourself, hmm?

For the record, here are the ingredients in the ready-to-drink raspberry ice flavor of Crystal Light:

Ingredients: WATER, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, CITRIC ACID, MALIC ACID, SUCRALOSE AND ACESULFAME POTASSIUM (SWEETENERS), RED 40, SODIUM BENZOATE, POTASSIUM SORBATE, AND CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA (PRESERVATIVES).

Now, here's that same flavor in the powder mix version:

Ingredients: MALTODEXTRIN (FROM CORN), CITRIC AND MALIC ACIDS (PROVIDES TARTNESS), RASPBERRY JUICE SOLIDS, ASPARTAME (SWEETENER), RED 40, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE (PREVENTS CAKING), ACESULFAME POTASSIUM (SWEETENER), BLUE 1.

Nevermind the fact that the powder mix has the corn-based maltodextrin in it (see, Michael Pollan was right about corn being in EVERYTHING!), there is a bunch of aspartame in this stuff. I don't know about you, but I don't want all of that in my body because it can bring on headaches and stall your weight loss. BAD NEWS INDEED!

According to the Crystal Light page at KraftFoods.com, the aspartame powder mix has a short storage life once it is prepared by the consumer since it has to remain refrigerated to prevent spoilage.

"For freshest taste, beverages containing Aspartame sweetener should always be consumed within 5 days of preparing."

Ah, so therein lies the problem with putting aspartame in the ready-to-drink versions of Crystal Light. It won't last very long before going bad. That's why sucralose (Splenda) is used instead because the shelf life is longer without compromising the taste and quality of the end product.

So my question is this: Why not put Splenda in ALL of the Crystal Light products? What is the purpose of having aspartame as the sweetener in the powder mix and Splenda as the sweetener in the ready-to-drink products? It looks like we have a case of sweetener schizophrenia going on here, Kraft!

If you want to endear yourself to the discriminating sugar-free consumer who prefers to avoid aspartame in favor of Splenda, then why not change your sweetener to Splenda across the board? Doesn't that just make good business sense anyway without confusing your customer base? Consistency and honesty go a long way towards building a good rapport with customers, especially those who are concerned about their health.

My reader who saw the Splenda logo on a ready-to-drink Crystal Light product automatically assumed that Splenda was now in all of the Crystal Light products now. How many people like him will be surprised to see aspartame STILL in the powder mix? That can't be good for public relations, would it Kraft?

Let me tell you, for fans of juice Crystal Light is the bomb! These ready-to-drink products come in lemonade, raspberry ice, lemon tea, strawberry kiwi, peach iced tea, sunrise classic orange, and ruby red grapefruit. Just be aware that the Splenda is NOT in the powder mixes...yet! Perhaps they'll read this and hear from YOU and decide the time has come to take the plunge and go all-Splenda! We can hope, can't we?

Use this Contact Us page to provide Kraft with your feedback about putting Splenda in the Crystal Light powder mix, too. We might just convince them it's a good idea, so make your voice heard today! And let me know if you see Splenda pop up in any other products that used to contain Nutrasweet.

Pickles Made Low-Carb With Splenda? Sweet!

Look for the blue label on Mt. Olive pickles for the Splenda logo

I'm beebopping through the grocery store looking up and down the aisles for something new to add to my low-carb menu options and looky what I was able to find: LOW-CARB PICKLES! Granted, regular dill pickles aren't overly loaded with sugar anyway, but sweet pickles and bread & butter pickles have more sugar than I'm comfortable eating.

That's why I was glad to find the major pickle manufacturer Mt. Olive has created a whole line of their outstanding pickle products with no added sugars and they replaced the sugar with Splenda. WHOA, that's awesome! Just like Smuckers who recently changed from using Nutrasweet to Splenda to sweeten their jams and jellies, Mt. Olive is the next to get on the bandwagon and giving low-carbers a choice when it comes to their products.

I especially like sweet gherkins and their awesome sweet relishes which are made with cucumbers, water, vinegar, salt, and sucralose (Splenda). Each sweet gherkin pickle has about 1g carbohydrate and worth every delicious bite, too! I eat these in my spinach salads or as a side with a turkey and cheese wrap. The relish goes great with hot dogs and just about anything you would eat with pickle relish. The best part is you'd never know you weren't eating the regular version of these pickles because they taste so good!

Mt. Olive No Sugar Added brand pickles come in three other varieties: Bread & Butter Sandwich Stuffer Pickles, Bread & Butter Pickle Strips, and Bread & Butter Pickle Chips.

Give these Mt. Olive No Sugar Added pickles a taste and see why I believe they are a low-carb specialty! ENJOY!

Smuckers Axes Aspartame, Switches To Splenda

Smuckers Sugar-Free Jam is now made with Splenda

I went out shopping last night to pick up a few groceries since my wife was in the mood for some raw cauliflower, broccoli and carrots with ranch dipping sauce. Mmmm, a low-carb dieter's delight for a meal since all of those veggies are EXCELLENT when you are livin' la vida low-carb. Since that is what Christine was craving, I was happy to take care of making sure my beautiful darling got what she wanted. Ain't I such a good hubby-wubby?!

I, on the other hand, also enjoyed a delicious and healthy low-carb dinner: a barbecued rotisserie chicken! Mmmm, that bad boy was off-the-chain! Oh, sorry, that means it was good in the vernacular of kids these days. Yep yep!

Anyways, as I was going up and down the aisles looking for any new products that may have come out appropriate for the low-carb lifestyle, I caught something out of the corner of my eye that was way down on the bottom shelf of the jellies and jams section. What was it that I saw? THE SPLENDA LOGO!


I look for the "Sweetened With Splenda Brand" all the time

When I bent down to pick up this glorious "new" product to see what it was featuring Splenda, imagine my surprise when I saw the product was made by Smuckers. Yep, the same Smuckers jams, jellies and preserves that have long been made with the artificial sweetener Nutrasweet or aspartame (my new name for it is nasty-tame)!

See for yourself the old packaging:


Nutrasweet pervaded the entire Smuckers line of products...until now!

Now it seems the manufacturers of Smuckers have been listening to the complaints we have been making about the questionable-for-your-health Nutrasweet even as other companies are REMOVING Splenda from their products! This is especially a BIG concern of mine in the soft drink industry where all the marketing dollars are going to support aspartame-infested products like this one while very little support has been given to superb Splenda-sweetened products such as this.

Hooray for Smuckers!!! FINALLY, somebody is listening!!!

The store I shopped at had four flavors available: Apricot Preserves, Strawberry Preserves, Seedless Blackberry Jam, and Concord Grape Jam. Each teaspoon serving size has just 50 calories and 5g carbohydrates (ZERO sugar!). They are made with REAL fruit which only add a trivial amount of natural sugars rather than the gobs of man-made sugar (aka high-fructose corn syrup) generally poured into most jams and jellies these days. These Smuckers jellies are an EXCELLENT product for diabetics and low-carbers alike to use as part of their healthy lifestyles.

I was so excited about trying these Smuckers jams for myself, I decided to dab some on a ZERO carb cinnamon bagel available from Viva Low-Carb along with some real full-fat Philadelphia-brand cream cheese.

Holy cow, look how good this breakfast I had turned out:


A bagel with cream cheese and jelly with about 5g carbs

As gorgeous as it looked, the taste was even more phenomenal! I cut the bagel in half and toasted it in my toaster for about a minute. Then spread a layer of cream cheese and then added the Smuckers. Oh...my...goodness!!! That was an amazing experience and I was thrilled to be able to taste Smuckers jams again without all the nasty-tame in it. YEAH!

My only advice to you if you find a "Sweeted With Splenda" logo on the front of a product is to check the ingredients list on the back. If sucralose or Splenda is not the primary or only sweetener listen, then you might want to put it back. Some companies (not Smuckers, thank God!) put substances like stomach-busting sugar alcohols such as maltitol as their top sweetening agent while sucralose is near the bottom of the ingredients.

What is most sickening is how they so proudly display that Splenda logo like it means something. To me, that is nothing mroe than just false advertising and food companies should be compelled to stop deceiving the public! We should demand truth in labeling on sugar-free products so that others don't fall prey to this marketing gimmick!

The sugar-free companies STILL need a wake-up call and I'm so glad to see a leading industry name like Smuckers serving as an example for adding Splenda to their jams and jellies now. I hope they continue to extend this to their other product lines, such as the hot fudge topping, caramel topping, etc. as long as they avoid the maltitol. We will hope for the best and see.

Are there any other companies ready to axe the aspartame, too? If you are a company that has products that contain Splenda or if you run across a product that has not previously been sweetened with Splenda and would like for me to highlight it here, then please e-mail me this information. I want to share with my fellow low-carbers these excellent options for them to use while they are livin' la vida low-carb.