Splenda case ruling favors local company

J&J claimed Heartland Packaging's similar boxes confused consumers Star and news service report Carmel-based Heartland Packaging Corp.

[Marji]

Splenda!
Isn't this the stuff made with chlorine chemicals?
Why eat toxins?
The obesity problem stems from "food products" vs real food....and the FDA just keeps on supporting the corporate profiteers, at the expense of human health.

[AnnaLynn]

My husband is diabetic. Splenda is the only non-sugar sweetener he can tolerate.

I can't even tolerate that.

[Dude]

Marji wrote:

Splenda!
Isn't this the stuff made with chlorine chemicals?
Why eat toxins?
The obesity problem stems from "food products" vs real food....and the FDA just keeps on supporting the corporate profiteers, at the expense of human health.

No, splenda is made from sugar not chlorine. Sounds like an urban myth to me.

[guy]

I like Splenda.

[AnnaLynn]

PHILADELPHIA - The maker of Splenda on Friday settled a lawsuit over its disputed advertising slogan — "Made from sugar so it tastes like sugar" — just after the jury reached a verdict that would have gone against the market-leading artificial sweetener.

Merisant Co., which makes rival Equal, accused the makers of Splenda of confusing consumers into thinking its product was healthier and more natural than other artificial sweeteners. Splenda's marketer, McNeil Nutritionals, countered that it simply has a better product backed by superior advertising.
A McNeil spokeswoman in the courtroom said the amount of the settlement wouldn't be announced.
The two sides issued a joint statement Friday saying the details of the settlement are confidential and both have agreed to make no additional comment on the terms of the agreement.
Chicago-based Merisant was seeking more than $200 million from McNeil — at least $183 million for unfair profits since 2003 and compensation for at least $25 million in lost sales.
The jury was set to award a substantial amount, but less than what Merisant was asking for, said juror Barbara Helms, 55, of Lafayette Hill.
"I don't think the company necessarily set out to mislead, but I don't think they did anything to stop it," said Helms, a vice president at a Philadelphia advertising firm.
The active ingredient in Splenda starts as pure cane sugar but is chemically altered to create a compound that contains no calories, according to McNeil. The final product contains no sugar.
The one-month trial focused mostly on Splenda's advertising slogan, but it ended in a settlement after the jury announced it had reached a verdict.
Settlement talks began after jurors asked the judge for a calculator and expert reports from both sides on how to determine damages. Lawyers rushed to the judge's office to try to delay the jury's announcement and then huddled in a courthouse meeting room.
McNeil's own consultants said its slogan confused potential customers, some of whom thought that Splenda was sugar without the calories, Merisant's attorneys said. McNeil rejected a plan to add the phrase "does not contain sugar" to the front of Splenda's yellow box, which might have cleared up the confusion, Merisant said.
Because the manufacturing of Splenda begins with sugar, McNeil can accurately claim that Splenda is "made from" sugar, according to its attorneys.
Splenda is used in more than 4,000 food and drink products and is included in recipes at numerous chain restaurants.
It had 60 percent of the consumer artificial sweetener market last year, according to the research firm Information Resources Inc. Equal, which comes in blue packets and is made with aspartame, and Sweet'N Low, in pink packets and made with saccharin, each held about 14 percent of the consumer market.
McNeil is a unit of Johnson & Johnson based in suburban Philadelphia and markets Splenda for its manufacturer, London-based Tate & Lyle PLC. It is also defending its Splenda advertising claims in a separate lawsuit in California filed by a group of U.S. sugar manufacturers.
___http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ 20070512/ap_on_bi_ge/splenda_l awsuit_9

[listen up]

Being a diabetic, I have to watch closely what I buy. My problem with this "lawsuit" is if your paying attention, you will not grab the wrong box. Hello people, every (or a lot of them) grocery stores have "private labels" which make the same things as the bigger companies... you have to look at the item(s) and the cost... I bet they were not the same cost!!!

[Medical Maven]

I ONLY sweeten with Sweet N Low. Only sugar sub that tasts BETTER than sugar. Splenda tasted funny to me. Chemical-like.

[Heartland]

Heartland Packaging doesnt even exist anymore if it did it would owe alot of people money its now Heartland Sweetner. Heartland Packaging sold to Global Plastics and they have renamed it Global Packaging they employ illegal immagrants. They package and sell salt & pepper to grocery outlets like kroger. Thats the real story major grocery outlets supporting companys that aid illegal immagration. Urge your local government to take action against companys like Global Packaging that employ people illegally and take jobs away from americans. They are violating the law

[Medical Maven]

IMHO Equal also tastes bad. Both Splenda and Equal make me feel sort of queasy. So I am firmly back to Sweet N Low. Again, it TASTES BETTER THAN SUGAR!

PS I'm not diabetic, but do not like things with made with sugar. I tend to eat one of two apples a day. And it must work to keep me healthy because it keeps the doctor away. Heh. Just kidding there.

I'm as healthy as a horse.
And I'm not even Norsk.

[rdb]

heartland packaging is in business my friend
they are healthy and well

[Billy Jack]

To you diabetics, try Stevia. It`s natural, and can even enhance glucose tolerance. Much better than splenda, or other artifical sweetners. Google it.

[AnnaLynn]

Billy Jack wrote:

To you diabetics, try Stevia. It`s natural, and can even enhance glucose tolerance. Much better than splenda, or other artifical sweetners. Google it.

Tried it. Yuck. And his sugars rose.

[AnnaLynn]

Plus, it's hard to find and expensive.

[Billy Jack]

AnnaLynn wrote:

<quoted text>
Tried it. Yuck. And his sugars rose.

Really? My 6 y.o. type 1 son uses it. You have to use less than you think, since it tastes very sweet. His Glucose level never rises with it. As far as the taste, I have tried different "brands" that seem to taste different. But as you and I know, each diabetic is different. What works for one, fails for another! I hate this disease!

[NatureBound]

Dude wrote:

<quoted text>
No, splenda is made from sugar not chlorine. Sounds like an urban myth to me.

In the chemical process to make splenda, they add 3 chlorine molecules to cane sugar, which vaporizes the natural sugar to create an artificial compound. There are some other chemical bulking agents added as well. There is absolutely no sugar in the final product and it is a purely artificial additive as the end result.

They want you to believe it's a natural product so you think it's healthier, but it's not.