Splenda, a sweetener that could be found in nearly every coffee shop or fast food joint across the USA, but is it vegan?

For starters, it’s important to note that Splenda is not sugar, it is a sweetener. It might also be news that Splenda’s actual name is Sucralose.

We’re going to cover why Spenda is not vegan, and why you might want to stay away from it altogether.

Is Splenda Vegan? Not Vegan!

You won’t find animal products in Splenda, but what makes it not vegan is the fact that Splenda has been ruthlessly tested on animals!

In the year 2000, a report by Permagon Press, covered the amount of torment and suffering that Johnson & Johnson (owners of Splenda) imposed on animals.

We’ll give you a quick rundown:

• During the course of 20 years, a total of 12,800 animals were experimented on with Splenda
• Dogs, monkeys, rabbits, rats, and mice were part of the experiments
• During one of the tests, 32 beagles (a breed of dog) were locked in a metal cage for 1 year. During that time, their food was mixed with Sucralose. At the end of the experiment, the throats of the dogs were slit and consequently bled to death. Lastly, the organs of the dogs were dissected for examination.
• In another test, 12 monkeys under the age of 10 months were force-fed Sucralose. 5 of those monkeys died within 4 weeks due to brain damage, and the rest were euthanized due to partial brain damage.
• In another test, rabbits were given 1,200 the human dosage of Sucralose per day. The rabbits underwent severe intestinal disorders and dead.

Yes, it’s that grim. There are even more experiments I could mention, but I would rather save us all the heartache.

To put it plainly, Splenda/Sucralose is an evil product. Even if you are not a fellow vegan, this isn’t a product that you should support.

Is Splenda/Sucralose Safe?

Now that you know that J&J has murdered thousands of animals during the testing of Splenda, we have to ask ourselves whether or not it’s even safe for humans. 

To answer this question, we should look at what happens when rats are given reasonable dosages of Sucralose:

• A group of rats were given Sucralose from the day they were born to their last day, and upon examination, many rats were found with blood cancer.
• A group of rats were given Sucralose, and upon examination of their stomach, the rats had a 50{967bf23b37ec6a673a83041540b3f904a815b4119ddf673afb961c1e7592ebdd} reduction in beneficial gut bacteria. The reduction of beneficial gut bacteria affects the absorption of nutrients. 
• Based on another study on rats, there was an increase in fat cells when consuming Splenda. In other words, it’s difficult for your body to digest it, and it can lead to weight gain.
• For our last point, heating Sucralose releases carcinogens that are harmful to breathe in. If you are using Splenda in your hot drinks, you are exposing yourself to carcinogens. 

Unfortunately, there aren’t any clear tests on humans when it comes to the consumption of Splenda. It’s also important for me to mention that the FDA did approve Splenda back in the 90s. 

Even so, as a fellow vegan, and as a human, I do not recommend Splenda. If you are looking for an alternative, we have a list of vegan sugars.