Splenda

With more than $200 million at stake, a federal jury in Philadelphia yesterday began to hear a bitter dispute between the makers of the artificial sweeteners Equal and Splenda. Equal alleges that Splenda, which recently rocketed past its rival in sales, has misled consumers with its marketing slogan: "Made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar. " The slogan is so misleading, Equal's lawyer told jurors, that Splenda should be ordered to stop using it and pay Equal huge penalties.

Depending on whom you ask, the remarkable success of Splenda is either the result of brilliant marketing, or the work of deceptive advertising. After just five years on supermarket shelves, the artificial sweetener - whose advertising slogan is "made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar" - has found its way into 20 percent of U.S. households and takes in 50 percent of the money spent on sugar substitutes. At least one competitor simply applauds McNeil Nutritionals L.L.C. of Fort Washington, the company that sells Splenda.

GIVING THE typical salad dressing an oil change trims calories and fat grams, but the rest of the recipe needs to be tinkered with too, if you want to maintain the original flavor. Today's honey-lime vinaigrette makes a good example. To slim it down, I slashed the amount of oil in half but stirred in more rice vinegar and fresh lime juice to pump up the taste. Next, I used a mixture of honey and Splenda to keep the dressing's sweetness while cutting calories. This recipe also makes a nice marinade for chicken.

It's everywhere. In ice cream, sodas, juice and pies. On tables at Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts and Ruby Tuesday. And soon, a new product with the popular sugar substitute Splenda will be lining grocery shelves - along with other baking products. Almost anything you put in your mouth these days could be sweetened with the no-calorie sugar substitute, now found in more than 3,500 products worldwide. It is marketed by McNeil Nutritionals of Fort Washington. The company announced yesterday that it would launch a new baking product, a blend of sugar and Splenda that the company hopes will persuade people to whip up their favorite recipes with half the calories.

Debra A. Sandler Worldwide president for McNeil Nutritionals L.L.C., a Johnson & Johnson company based in Fort Washington, whose major brands are Splenda, Viactive, Benecol and Lactaid. Where she's from: Sandler was raised in Trinidad and Tobago in a worldly, multilingual family and with ambitions toward international diplomacy. She had her eyes on the Sorbonne - she speaks French, English and Spanish - but was detoured to Hofstra University because her mother wouldn't hear of her only child living on her own in Paris.

What: Splenda No Calorie Sweetener Maker: McNeil Specialty Products Co. Where: Supermarkets nationwide and at www.splenda.com Size: 1.9 ounces (55 grams), equivalent to 1 pound of sugar Price: $2.59-$2.99 Splenda is branded sucralose, a modified form of sucrose or table sugar. In use in Europe and Canada since 1991, it received FDA approval as a food ingredient here in 1998. The molecular structure is changed to keep the body from absorbing it as a carbohydrate, creating a product that can be labeled no-calorie and no-carbohydrate.

TOP OFF A MEAL with Black Forest cheesecake and you might want to stay in the dark about the damage it could do to your diets. With more than 330 calories and 18 fat grams per serving, it doesn't fit into most calorie budgets. So I lightened up this rich dessert, shaving off 34 percent of the calories and slashing 51 percent of the fat. You can have a serving of my Black Forest cheesecake for 219 calories and 8.9 grams of fat. KATHY'S BLACK FOREST CHEESECAKE For brownie layer: 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 tablespoon canola oil 2 ounces semisweet chocolate chips 3 tablespoons packed Splenda brown sugar blend 2 tablespoons Splenda (granulated for baking)

January is the traditional month to start dieting and getting more exercise. Your resolutions for 2002 may be dramatic, or you may simply want to lose the few pounds you gained over the holidays. One fairly painless way is to switch from sugar, which has 15 calories per teaspoon, to no-calorie sugar substitutes. Saccharin (sold in pink packets labeled Sweet'N Low) and aspartame (marketed as Equal and NutraSweet) are dieters' standbys for sweetening coffee and tea. But those sweeteners break down at the high temperatures needed for cooking and baking.

Debra A. Sandler   Worldwide president for McNeil Nutritionals L.L.C., a Johnson & Johnson company based in Fort Washington, whose major brands are Splenda, Viactive, Benecol and Lactaid. Where she's from: Sandler was raised in Trinidad and Tobago in a worldly, multilingual family and with ambitions toward international diplomacy. She had her eyes on the Sorbonne - she speaks French, English and Spanish - but was detoured to Hofstra University because her mother wouldn't hear of her only child living on her own in Paris.

WHILE WORD is filtering through the TMZ.com grapevine about Paris Hilton's life behind bars - it's cold, uncomfortable, the blankets are threadbare, the beds are hard and the food is lousy - the Star is reporting on Lindsay Lohan's first few days in rehab. The paper says that when Lindsay arrived on May 28, she was in such bad shape that the Promises staff prepared for the worst. "She looked dead," says a Star source. "She looked like a stray dog the pound had just taken in. " Insiders allegedly tell the Star that Lindsay's first four days were spent in detox, ridding her body of alcohol, cocaine, Percocet, Vicodin and other meds.

GIVING THE typical salad dressing an oil change trims calories and fat grams, but the rest of the recipe needs to be tinkered with too, if you want to maintain the original flavor. Today's honey-lime vinaigrette makes a good example. To slim it down, I slashed the amount of oil in half but stirred in more rice vinegar and fresh lime juice to pump up the taste. Next, I used a mixture of honey and Splenda to keep the dressing's sweetness while cutting calories. This recipe also makes a nice marinade for chicken.

TOP OFF A MEAL with Black Forest cheesecake and you might want to stay in the dark about the damage it could do to your diets. With more than 330 calories and 18 fat grams per serving, it doesn't fit into most calorie budgets. So I lightened up this rich dessert, shaving off 34 percent of the calories and slashing 51 percent of the fat. You can have a serving of my Black Forest cheesecake for 219 calories and 8.9 grams of fat. KATHY'S BLACK FOREST CHEESECAKE For brownie layer: 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 tablespoon canola oil 2 ounces semisweet chocolate chips 3 tablespoons packed Splenda brown sugar blend 2 tablespoons Splenda (granulated for baking)

Debra A. Sandler Worldwide president for McNeil Nutritionals L.L.C., a Johnson & Johnson company based in Fort Washington, whose major brands are Splenda, Viactive, Benecol and Lactaid. Where she's from: Sandler was raised in Trinidad and Tobago in a worldly, multilingual family and with ambitions toward international diplomacy. She had her eyes on the Sorbonne - she speaks French, English and Spanish - but was detoured to Hofstra University because her mother wouldn't hear of her only child living on her own in Paris.

Debra A. Sandler   Worldwide president for McNeil Nutritionals L.L.C., a Johnson & Johnson company based in Fort Washington, whose major brands are Splenda, Viactive, Benecol and Lactaid. Where she's from: Sandler was raised in Trinidad and Tobago in a worldly, multilingual family and with ambitions toward international diplomacy. She had her eyes on the Sorbonne - she speaks French, English and Spanish - but was detoured to Hofstra University because her mother wouldn't hear of her only child living on her own in Paris.

WHILE WORD is filtering through the TMZ.com grapevine about Paris Hilton's life behind bars - it's cold, uncomfortable, the blankets are threadbare, the beds are hard and the food is lousy - the Star is reporting on Lindsay Lohan's first few days in rehab. The paper says that when Lindsay arrived on May 28, she was in such bad shape that the Promises staff prepared for the worst. "She looked dead," says a Star source. "She looked like a stray dog the pound had just taken in. " Insiders allegedly tell the Star that Lindsay's first four days were spent in detox, ridding her body of alcohol, cocaine, Percocet, Vicodin and other meds.

With more than $200 million at stake, a federal jury in Philadelphia yesterday began to hear a bitter dispute between the makers of the artificial sweeteners Equal and Splenda. Equal alleges that Splenda, which recently rocketed past its rival in sales, has misled consumers with its marketing slogan: "Made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar. " The slogan is so misleading, Equal's lawyer told jurors, that Splenda should be ordered to stop using it and pay Equal huge penalties.

Depending on whom you ask, the remarkable success of Splenda is either the result of brilliant marketing, or the work of deceptive advertising. After just five years on supermarket shelves, the artificial sweetener - whose advertising slogan is "made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar" - has found its way into 20 percent of U.S. households and takes in 50 percent of the money spent on sugar substitutes. At least one competitor simply applauds McNeil Nutritionals L.L.C. of Fort Washington, the company that sells Splenda.

It's everywhere. In ice cream, sodas, juice and pies. On tables at Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts and Ruby Tuesday. And soon, a new product with the popular sugar substitute Splenda will be lining grocery shelves - along with other baking products. Almost anything you put in your mouth these days could be sweetened with the no-calorie sugar substitute, now found in more than 3,500 products worldwide. It is marketed by McNeil Nutritionals of Fort Washington. The company announced yesterday that it would launch a new baking product, a blend of sugar and Splenda that the company hopes will persuade people to whip up their favorite recipes with half the calories.

Carolyn Yasgur was calm. After all, her elegant ranch house had been site of numerous bashes, and she knew the drill: fresh flowers, open spaces for mingling, delicious spread. The invitations to yesterday's big dinner party had been sent, including an e-mail giving directions: "If parked in the parking circle, leave room for the speaker's limo to negotiate the area. " Oh, the speaker: film critic Roger Ebert, in Cherry Hill for an engagement arranged by the township's Star Forum series - and the guest of honor who jazzed up her suburban soiree.

January is the traditional month to start dieting and getting more exercise. Your resolutions for 2002 may be dramatic, or you may simply want to lose the few pounds you gained over the holidays. One fairly painless way is to switch from sugar, which has 15 calories per teaspoon, to no-calorie sugar substitutes. Saccharin (sold in pink packets labeled Sweet'N Low) and aspartame (marketed as Equal and NutraSweet) are dieters' standbys for sweetening coffee and tea. But those sweeteners break down at the high temperatures needed for cooking and baking.