Here are 15 Interesting Facts About Sugar and Sweeteners.
Sodium Cyclamate, an artificial sweetener that is 30-50 times sweeter than sugar, was banned by the FDA in October 1969 due to claims that it could cause cancer. In the same month, it was approved for use in the UK where it is still used today.
The US pays on average 15% more for sugar than the rest of the world do to the Farm Bill. This may also be the reason soft drinks switched over to High Fructose Corn Syrup.
Sugar was first added to chewing gum in 1869. Ironically, a dentist named William Semple was the person behind this decision.
Cigarettes often contain sugar, caramel and cocoa. Cocoa burned in a cigarette produces bromine gas which dilates the airways of the lungs and increases the ability to absorb nicotine.
During Passover, Coca-Cola sells coke with sugar instead of corn syrup in areas with a substantial Jewish population because corn syrup isn’t kosher. Keep an eye out for coke bottles with a yellow cap.
Most of the sweetener known as Sucralose is passed as excrement. Only between 11 – 27% of it is actually absorbed at all.
70% of milk served in U.S. schools contains on average four teaspoons of added sugar per serving (about half the amount of sugar as a serving of Coke).
The use of granulated sugar for the treatment of infected wounds offers a practical, proven approach for wound care. Sugar has been called a nonspecific universal antimicrobial agent.
Saccharin, a key ingredient in Sweet’n Low that was once considered carcinogenic, was removed from The Report on Carcinogens because humans react differently to saccharin than rats do.
Sugar is the most farmed crop in the world. In 2010, 1.69 billion tons was produced on 23.8 million hectares in about 90 countries.
The Mexican free-tailed bat is featured as Bacardi’s logo because it pollinates sugar cane and protects it from insects.
If you eat a teaspoon of sugar after eating something spicy, it will completely neutralize the heat.
Before the 20th century, sugar was sold as one big rock and special tools were required to break pieces off.
The first ingredient in Nutella is sugar and in fact it contains 50% sugar.
It is cheaper for U.S. companies to use High Fructose Corn Syrup instead of cane sugar because corn is subsidized at $40 billion.
