Splenda’s key ingredient is false advertising, rival tells jury

PHILADELPHIA — The marketers of Splenda have made millions by confusing consumers into thinking the yellow packets contain a natural product and not an artificial sweetener, its chief rival told a jury Tuesday.

Splenda has cornered 60 percent of the $1.6 billion market for sugar substitutes since its 2000 debut through false advertising that implies Splenda contains sugar, the manufacturer of Equal says.

The Merisant Co., which makes Equal and NutraSweet, says Splenda is misleading customers with its tag line, “Made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar.” Splenda contains no sugar and is instead sweetened with a synthetic compound through a complex chemical process.

McNeil counters that it uses sugar in the manufacturing process, even if it is burned off and not part of the final product. American consumers prefer Splenda because it tastes better and is easier to bake with, their lawyer said.

“Now, in 2007, Merisant wants to blame its misfortunes on false advertising,” lawyer Steven Zalesin said in opening remarks in U.S. District Court.

Chicago-based Merisant sued McNeil over the advertising claims in 2004, saying that McNeil made at least $183 million in unfair profits since 2003 and that Merisant lost $25 million in sales of its products.

Merisant charges that McNeil misled consumers into thinking that Splenda contained only natural ingredients, and that it was safer and healthier than other artificial sweeteners. McNeil repeatedly evaded questions about whether Splenda is “natural,” a Merisant lawyer said.

“McNeil documents show that they knew consumers were confused and they didn’t do anything to stop it,” Merisant lawyer Gregory LoCascio said.

McNeil initially marketed Splenda with the slogan, “Made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar. But it’s not sugar.” After disappointing results, the company dropped the last sentence and sales started climbing, LoCascio said.