Sucralose, a sweetener not so trivial

What is successful?

Sucralose is a synthetic sweetener widely used because of its very high sweet power, around 400 to 650 times higher than sucrose. Authorized as a food additive by the European health authorities in 2004, under the acronym E 955, it is marketed under the brands Canderel® and Splenda®. Its wide use is partly due to its physico-chemical properties: success has the property of being soluble in ethanol, methanol and water, which allows it to be used in water-based foods or alcoholic drinks. The admissible daily dose authorized in Europe amounts to 15 mg/kg of body mass/day. Currently, there is no restriction on its use in children, pregnant women, the elderly or sick. Yet success is biologically active and could have negative health effects According to recent studies.

In addition, sweeteners are often used by overweight people or with diabetes. However, success is already not recommended in case of glucose intolerance and Type 2 diabetes by The new additive guide Dr. Anne-Laure Denans and Lanutrition.fr. Edulcoe are controversial products, due to their effect on the microbiota, but also because they do not necessarily help the organism to free themselves from the sweet taste.

Zoom on the composition of success

Sucralose is made from sugar according to a chemical process in several stages in which three hydrogen-oxygen groups are replaced by chlorine atoms. Sucralose contains dextrose carbohydrates (glucose) and maltodextrin, it has a very low calorie content. Because of its high sweetening power, very small quantities of success is necessary.

Dangers of success: What does science say?

Does success make you fat? Could it increase the risk of diabetes?

A small study has shown that the repeated taking of success caused abnormally high productions of insulin (1). However, insulin secretion that is too frequent and/or too high can lead to a resistance situation of cells to this hormone. Insulin resistance is associated with the risks of overweight, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and foie gras disease.

Another study published in theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition brought new evidence (2). In this clinical trial, the participants took every day for 14 days, either sachets containing success in a dose corresponding to 15 % of the admissible daily dose, or sachets of a placebo substance (without supralose). Participants had a normal body mass index and were not regular sweetener consumers. On average, men consumed 157.7 mg/day of suraralose and women 123 mg/day. The results show that participants who have taken sucralose have a significant decrease in insulin sensitivity compared to the start of the study (decrease of 17.7 % against 2.8 % in the control group).

How to explain this effect? The consumption of synthetic sweeteners, in particular of success, causes intestinal dysbiosis (that is to say an imbalance in the intestinal microbiota) leading in turn to metabolic disorders. In addition, artificial sweeteners do not activate the reward circuits in the same way as sugar. The result is a compensation phenomenon to the following meals which can lead to storing calories in the form of fat, then to resistance to insulin.

In addition, a study published in 2025 shows that success could Disturbing appetite control and stirring hunger. In this trial of 75 young adults, researchers from the University of Southern California have found that it increases the hypothalamic blood flow, a marker of hunger (3). The study also shows that successfulness strengthens the connections between the hypothalamus and the brain regions linked to motivation and decision -making, suggesting an impact on cravings.

Blood sugar, microbiota, DNA: What are the other side effects on the health of this additive?

Two American scientists, one internationally recognized researcher on sweeteners and the other working for the NIH (National Institute of American Health) took stock of a very documented study on the biological effects of success (4). Here are the main actions identified:

• The modification of glucose and insulin levels: this effect has been shown both in rodents and humans. Sucralose could have consequences in weight control. Epidemiology has found an association between the use of sweeteners and the weight gain due to its impact on blood sugar.
• Effects on detoxification and bioavailability of drugs : Sucralose increases the expression of proteins associated with the reduction of the bioavailability of drugs.
• The metabolites of success: Sucralose is metabolized in the digestive tract, which gives birth to compounds whose identity and biological effects are not known.
• An action on the balance of the intestinal flora : Sucralose reduces the number of bacteria, with a greater abolition of beneficial strains (lactobacilli and bifidobacteria) than more harmful (enterobacteria) bacteria. The total number of these bacteria does not return to normal after 3 months of judgment of success. However, we know that microbiota and immune system are intimately linked, which could therefore weaken or deregulate the body’s immune response.
• DNA alterations : Sucralose can have mutagenic effects at high concentrations and therefore induce significant carcinogenic risk. It induces DNA damage in the digestive tube of the mice. The heating of success with glycerol, which is found in the structure of triglycerides, generates chloropanols, a class of potentially toxic compounds. Once ingested, successful gives birth to other molecules in the intestine, including the success-6-acetate, a liposoluble compound already present in small quantities in success. A study by the University of North Carolina revealed that this molecule is genotoxicthat is to say harmful for DNA (5). Scientists have come to this conclusion by conducting experiences in vitro where they have exposed human blood cells and human intestinal tissues to success-6-acetate. Another worrying point: the study suggests that the traces of success-6-acetate in a single daily drink to success exceed the threshold authorized by the European authorities concerning genotoxic agents (0.15 μg per person per day).

Most of these biological effects take place at dosages approved by health authorities. Consequently, the authors conclude that the security of this sweetener must be re -examined.

Does the alleged toxicity of success increase in children?

A study by researchers from the National Institutes of Health in the United States has measured the quantities of artificial sweeteners in the blood of children and adults after drinking a sugar-free soda (“Light”). The results of this study are published in Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry (6).

Researchers noted the levels of artificial sweeteners in succession and potassium aceulfame, which are in a wide range of ultra-transformed foods and drinks. Among these artificial sweeteners are also saccharin and aspartame. Blood concentrations of artificial sweeteners have been measured in adults and children following the ingestion of various doses of success with or without potassium aceulfame, in dietetic soda or in sparkling or flat water. The study included 22 adults aged 18 to 45 and 11 children aged 6 to 12 who had no known medical problem and who did not use any medication.

Results : compared to adults, Children had jurisdictions of success in plasma twice as high after ingestion of a soda light. These results are important because early exposure to artificial sweeteners can influence the child’s taste, food and metabolism. As children generally seek more sweet than adults, they are particularly vulnerable to the potential effects of artificial sweeteners.

The same research team has shown that these artificial sweeteners are found in breast milk when the mother ingests “light” drinks or foods. Since infants have (up to 2 years) less capacity to eliminate such substances by the kidneys, the authors are concerned about the presence of these sweeteners in the blood of newborns.