Common sweetener sucralose can damage DNA, finds study

A common artificial sweetener sucralose, marketed as Splenda in the US, can damage DNA, shows a study. 

​​​​​​A recent study conducted by the North Carolina State University found that when metabolised sucralose produces a fat soluble compound sucralose-6-acetate which can break down DNA.

Trace amounts of sucralose-6-acetate were also found in the sweetener itself.

Sucralose is marketed as Zerocal in Bangladesh.

The researchers exposed human blood cells to sucralose-6-acetate and analysed them for markers of genotoxicity, or damage to DNA.

They found that the chemical was clastogenic; that is, it directly caused DNA strand breakages. If left unrepaired or improperly repaired by the body, damaged DNA strands can lead to cancer. And their testing showed that sucralose-6-acetate negatively affected human gut tissues, reports the New Atlas.

"To put this in context, the European Food Safety Authority has a threshold of toxicological concern for all genotoxic substances of 0.15 micrograms per person per day," says Susan Schiffman, corresponding author of the study. "Our work suggests that the trace amounts of sucralose-6-acetate in a single, daily sucralose-sweetened drink exceed that threshold. And that's not even accounting for the amount of sucralose-6-acetate produced as metabolites after people consume sucralose."

"Other studies have found that sucralose can adversely affect gut health, so we wanted to see what might be happening there," said Schiffman.

"When we exposed sucralose and sucralose-6-acetate to gut epithelial cells – the tissue that lines your gut wall – we found that both chemicals cause 'leaky gut.' A leaky gut is problematic because it means that things that would normally be flushed out of the body in feces are instead leaking out of the gut and being absorbed into the bloodstream," she added.