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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 14, 2005
Growing Number of National Organizations Raise Concern with Splenda’s Marketing Practices
Certain Groups Urge FTC to Investigate Misleading Advertising Confusing Consumers
Washington D.C. [February 14, 2005] – Today a number of consumer, agriculture and health organizations, in concert with a nationwide network of sugar cane and sugar beet growers, participated in a news conference to refute the misleading advertising claims and marketing practices of the chlorinated artificial sweetener Splenda. The group, which includes the Sugar Association, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), and the National Grange, among many others, is concerned that the manufacturers of Splenda are confusing consumers into believing that Splenda contains real, all-natural sugar.
Splenda claims that it is “Made from Sugar, So it Tastes Like Sugar.” In reality, Splenda is a highly processed chemical substance called sucralose, which is manufactured in a chemical plant in Alabama . The final product contains no sugar, and the compound sucralose, in fact, can not be found anywhere in nature.
“Splenda’s marketing techniques are unfair to farmers and the entire agricultural industry,” said Richard Weiss, chief operating officer of the National Grange. “When farmers have to compete against chemistry pretending to be natural, it puts them at a disadvantage that affects their ability to provide quality products for consumers.”
A number of members of the group have sent letters to the Federal Trade Commission asking for a truth in advertising investigation of the product. Others say it is simply time for the manufacturers of Splenda to be more candid in their advertising of the product.
“‘Made from sugar’ certainly sounds better than, say, ‘made from chlorinated hydrocarbons,’ ‘made in a laboratory’ or ‘fresh from the factory,’” CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson remarked. “Splenda’s artificiality may present a marketing challenge, but that’s not an excuse to confuse consumers and lead them to believe that Splenda is natural or in any way related to sugar.”
In addition to today’s press conference a website, www.truthaboutsplenda.com, has been launched by the Sugar Association so that consumers can research the truth about what goes into the process that results in Splenda.
“We are concerned that consumers are buying Splenda thinking it’s natural like sugar, when the final product is nothing like sugar and is certainly not natural,” commented Andy Briscoe, president of the U.S. Sugar Association. “Splenda is not grown in a field. It is made from a chemical process in an industrial plant.”
For more information about the group or to get involved, please contact Rich Masters at Qorvis Communications, 202-496-1000, e-mail
[email protected] , or visit the website at www.truthaboutsplenda.com
