On artificial sweeteners

I refer to the letter of Sunarto Prawirosujanto published in The Jakarta Post on Oct. 20 urging Indonesians to use more and more artificial sweeteners to avoid the importation of sugar.

Of particular interest to all would be the fact that earlier classification of cyclamates and saccharin as carcinogenic elements, based on studies conducted on mice, have been reversed by the FDA of the U.S. after subsequent studies over a long period of time showed that these two sweeteners were not found to be carcinogenic to human beings.

Today, there are many artificial sweeteners apart from the other two. On one end is a chemical-based sweetener Aspartame and on the other end is Stavia, an herbal extract from the leaves of a tree found in Brazil. Also making a recent appearance on the U.S. market is Splenda.

for a layman, it is very difficult to determine which of these sweeteners are safe for use over a long period of time, because the information available on the internet is so conflicting that it can make one's head swim and leave him in total confusion.

I wonder whether some medical professionals among and beyond the Post's readership could enlighten people like us who are interested in using artificial sweeteners but do not know enough to make a correct choice.

I also wonder why everybody's favorite foods, sugar-free ice creams etc., which are easily available in U.S. supermarkets, are not available in Indonesia, while "diet" sodas are available. I really miss sugar-free ice creams.

K.B. KALE Jakarta