Mr. Gild meet Mr. Lilly

Noticed something for the first time at the supermarket yesterday that apparently has been out & about for a while: Canned fruits now packaged with … SPLENDA!

For some reason we need our canned fruit extra sweet — that’s why we have the stuff packaged in heavy syrup. That was too much for some segment of the population, so companies started selling the stuff packaged in fruit juice, sans additional sucre. Then, in September 2003 the  Signature Fruit Co. launched four new canned fruit products  “specifically created for Americans aiming to consume less sugar, fewer carbohydrates and/or reduce daily caloric intake.” Thus Splenda was added to our canned fruit. Let us put aside for a moment the fact that “Americans aiming to consume less sugar, fewer carbohydrates and/or reduce daily caloric intake” could just eat fresh fruit and thereby get all sorts of other health benefits too. I, for one, think splenda is just saccharin with better PR so don’t hand me any stuff about how it’s “natural.” The bigger question is WHY DO WE ADD SUGAR (more likely high fructose corn syrup) to this stuff? Why do I live in a world where companies add (& consumers buy) apple sauce with extra sweetener? Grrrrrr…..