A Clever Experiment Proving That Calorie-Free Sweeteners Aren’t Completely Free of Calories

In a guest video for Tom Scott‘s series “Things You May Not Know“, fellow vlogger Alex Nickel, the teenager behind the knowledge-seeking YouTube channel Technicality, conducted a clever experiment that proved that “calorie free” sweeteners such as Splenda aren’t completely free of calories.

So, before answering how many calories Splenda really has, if any, we first have to answer if Splenda has any usable calories at all. How do we do that? Well, when we eat and digest sugar or sucrose, our body turns it into glucose and fructose. …Splenda, which is marketed as a zero-calorie alternative to sugar, actually has more glucose than actual sugar. …The Food and Drug Administration allows foods with fewer than five calories per serving to be marketed as having zero calories down to the nutrition label.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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