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Can Splenda® (Sucralose)
be Used in Preserving Foods?
Here is the current (July 2004) information from
National Center for Food Preservation. Other recipes are likely being
developed. For example, Kraft Foods has since published three Splenda-based,
“no-sugar-needed” jams that are processed in the boiling water bath.
They are Strawberry, Triple Berry and Peach. These can be found at
www.Kraftfoods.com.
Granular Splenda® does not provide preservative properties like sugar.
There has not been any published research work with using sucralose in
the canning of fruits at home. If one uses Splenda® instead of sugar,
our best assumption at this time is that the texture and color
preserving aspects of sugar syrup won’t be there. The expectation is
that the result would be like canning in water except for the additional
sweetness contributed by the Splenda®.
The USDA fruit canning directions do allow for water canning, as there
is adequate preservation for safety from the heat and not sugar. There
should be no reason why Splenda® cannot be used in these heat-processed
products, as it is heat stable, but some people do notice an aftertaste
in other products, so it’s possible it might change in flavor a little
over storage time.
In other cases, where sugar is important, like some preserves or pickled
fruits, it is not recommended that substitution of Splenda® be used for
sugar if the product is to be canned for shelf stability. Splenda®
cannot be used in traditional Southern preserves, like fig, peach or
pear preserves, which are whole or uniform pieces of fruit in a very
thick sugar syrup. (These preserves are not jam or pectin gel products.)
Sugar is required for the preservation of these products as published,
with very short boiling water canner processes. Without that sugar, they
also become like fruit canned in water and the longer fruit canning
process times would be needed.
You could use Splenda® as the optional sweetener in a jam or jelly made
with a no-sugar needed pectin, such as Mrs. Wages™ Lite Home Jell® Fruit
Pectin or Ball® No-Sugar Needed Pectin. With these low-methoxyl pectins,
no sugar is required at all. Sugar substitutes can be added as desired
simply for flavor. The package inserts with these pectins give
instructions on when to add the sugar substitutes (usually after all the
cooking, right before filling the jars). We have not yet tried Splenda®
with these pectins with an extensive variety of fruits, however.
We have developed three recipes using Splenda® and they are on our
website, www.homefoodpreservation.com. They are quick pickled sweet
cucumber slices, pickled beets and pickled cantaloupe. They are under
the How do I....Pickle category, as well as National Center factsheets,
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/ publications/nchfp/factsheets.html.
There are some freezer jam recipes at this manufacturer’s website,
although there is a qualification that the site is intended for Canadian
users only:
http://www.splenda.ca/en/recipes/preserves/.
Trade and brand names are used only for information.
The Cooperative Extension Service, University of Georgia College of
Agricultural & Environmental Sciences and College of Family & Consumer
Sciences, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture do not guarantee nor
warrant published standards on any product mentioned; neither does the
use of a trade or brand name imply approval of any product to the
exclusion of others which may also be suitable.
Other April 2005 Articles:
Cracked Jars:
Reading Between the Lines
Addresses for Suppliers
Questions & Answers
Cynthia
Fauser
fauserc@missouri.edu
Nutrition Specialist
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April
2005
