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Artificial sweeteners: friend or foe?  Editor's note: March is National Nutrition Month and is a nutrition education and information campaign sponsored annually by the American Dietetic Association. The campaign is designed to focus attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. Each week during March, the MUSC dietetic interns will present healthy eating alternatives. by Leanne Kaye Dietetic Intern With summer just around the corner, Americans across the country are looking to shake off that winter chill and with it shed a few pounds. For many, the most obvious answer in shedding those pounds seems to be avoiding candy and pastries, and heading to the gym. Well what about those of us who find it just too difficult to give up our beloved sugar-coated pastries and candy?   This answer seems to lie in a myriad of artificial sweeteners such as Splenda, Equal and Sweet ‘n Low. These little yellow, blue, and pink packets are the sugar substitutes that give us the freedom to enjoy sweetened foods and drinks without the worry of additional calories.   However, sugar substitutes have not always been looked upon as the healthy answer. Research in the 70s revealed that sugar substitutes containing saccharin (found in Sweet ‘n Low) were associated with the onset of certain cancers. As a result, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned all saccharin-containing products. In the 80s, Aspartame (found in Equal and NutraSweet) left a bad taste in our mouths when it was found to be associated with tumour growth and birth defects.   As a result of these findings, subsequent studies were conducted in a more precise and rigorous fashion to see if in fact these claims were validated. It turns out that they were not. The FDA has since approved the use of both of saccharin and aspartame.   Other FDA-approved sweeteners include: acesulfame-K (Sunett), neotame, and sucralose (Splenda). But, Stevia, another popular artificial sweetener, has not yet been approved by the FDA.   If you are interested in learning more about artificial sweeteners visit the American Dietetic Association Web site at http://www.eatright.org. Not only will you find answers about sweeteners, but other tips and suggestions to help you shed that unwanted winter weight. Source: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet and http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1999/699_sugar.html.     Friday, March 17, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island papers at 849-1778, ext. 201.