Stacy Malkan

Sucralose is the most widely used arti cial sweetener in the United States. Most commonly sold under the brand name Splenda, the chemical is used in over 6,000 food products. It is often found in “diet” sodas including Diet Coke with Splenda, Diet Pepsi with Splenda, as well as Gatorade’s Propel Water, low-calorie Kool-Aid, Atkins Diet products, and other low-calorie foods and drinks.

Sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sugar and itself contains no calories. Although it has been marketed as a healthy product that can help fend o obesity and diabetes, sucralose consumption has been linked to leukemia, weight gain, obesity, diabetes, liver in ammation, metabolic dysfunction and other illnesses.