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DeSwiss

(27,137 posts)
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 04:49 AM Jun 2014

Sugar substitute Truvia doubles as insecticide

UPI
By Brooks Hays
June 5, 2014 at 11:19 AM



The sugar substitute Truvia proves deadly to fruit flies.
(Drexel University)


PHILADELPHIA, June 5 (UPI) --One of the most popular sugar substitutes on the market is also an insecticide -- masking the bitterness of coffee one minute, killing fruit flies the next.

Millions of people every day put the sweetener erythritol in their coffee and tea. Its consumers know it better by its slightly more appetizing trade name Truvia, in which erythritol is the main ingredient. No matter what it's called, the sugar substitute dramatically reduces the life expectancy of fruit flies.

According to a new study, published this week in the journal PLOS ONE, fruit flies that consumed Truvia lasted just 5.8 days. Flies that consumed other artificial sweeteners, or nothing at all, lived between 38.6 and 50.6 days.

"I feel like this is the simplest, most straightforward work I've ever done, but it's potentially the most important thing I've ever worked on," said senior author Sean O'Donnell, a professor of biology and biodiversity at Drexel University.

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- How did that old DuPont slogan go? "Better Things for Better Living...Through Chemistry." I guess they just meant us, not fruit flies.....

[center]
''What are they complaining about?
Won't my Truvia sweetener help people
get rid of the roaches and ants in the
scrawny hovels they rent from me!?!?
Huh?!?! Huh!?!? Ingrates!''
[/center]
22 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Dorian Gray

(13,469 posts)
2. Isn't this made from the Stevia plant?
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 06:47 AM
Jun 2014

I assumed it was healthier than other sugar substitutes (Splenda, Equal, etc.), but that was not based on anything other than assuming it was naturally extracted from a plant. (I didn't look into it too much.)

I'm trying to move away from all artificial sweeteners (and use less sugar/honey/etc) in my drinks. Water, tea, and seltzer are my drinks of choice.

But, that it repels fruit flies doesn't necessarily mean anything, either. Aren't there plants that naturally repel insects that aren't necessarily harmful to humans?

thesquanderer

(11,955 posts)
16. Correct, it does not repel them. They actually like it *more*.
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 09:07 AM
Jun 2014

from http://www.techtimes.com/articles/8058/20140605/a-sweetner-that-also-works-as-a-bug-killer.htm

Fruit flies have even been shown to prefer erythritol to other kinds of sweet food sources, the researchers said.

Exactly how the compound kills the flies is unknown, they admit, but other studies suggest it may inhibit their ability to efficiently absorb water and nutrients.


There's also an interesting chart mapping the results against those of other sweeteners at
http://www.thewire.com/national/2014/06/truvia-natural-sweetener-is-a-natural-way-to-kill-fruit-flies/372206/

Dorian Gray

(13,469 posts)
22. Thanks for the information
Tue Jun 10, 2014, 06:48 AM
Jun 2014

I don't use stevia/truvia very often, but I was thinking about using it sometimes in coffee as a replacement for sugar. It's good to know what you're putting into your body.

 

DeSwiss

(27,137 posts)
5. Er, no.....
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 07:04 AM
Jun 2014
Truvia sweetener is made from about 99.5% erythritol (a sugar alcohol), and 0.5% rebiana, an extract from the stevia plant (but not at all the same thing as stevia). A shocking new study published in the journal PLOS ONE has found that Truvia, an alternative sweetener manufactured by food giant Cargill, is a potent insecticide that kills fruit flies which consume it. MORE


- As in many instances of the lose morals of free enterprise, the inclusion of something that is derived from a so-called ''natural source'' no matter how minute, gives corporations (they're people too, you know my friend) card blanche to exploit that ''natural quality'' to the fullest. Even though it may only be 0.5% true, that's enough! As in this case:

 

Perseus

(4,341 posts)
10. Sugar made from Stevia is also NOT healthy
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 07:38 AM
Jun 2014

It is processed, and although it may be better than the hardcore chemical substitutes, it still not good.

What you can do is go to a Hispanic market and buy "Papelon", which is raw cane sugar, it is brown and they usually sell it as a block, you actually have to scrape it before you can put it in your coffee/tea/etc.

Brown sugar is the best thing you can do, although sugar intake should be reduced anyway.

==========================================
Is Stevia Natural?

Technically, says Amen, “stevia extract is not totally ‘natural’ since it’s derived from dried leaves using a water-extraction process, then is refined using ethanol, methanol, and crystallization.”
==========================================

Here is the article:

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/stevia-safer-sweetener201

LynneSin

(95,337 posts)
13. It's not uncommon for plants to be dangerous to animals
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 07:52 AM
Jun 2014

However Truvia is not 100% Stevia so my guess is it is the non-Stevia part that causes the problem and not the Stevia.

LiberalElite

(14,691 posts)
4. Does it kill roaches too? - that's more useful to me - otherwise
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 06:58 AM
Jun 2014

I don't know what to make of this because some foods that are generally harmless to us are lethal to other creatures. For example, chocolate shouldn't be given to dogs.http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/guide/dogs-and-chocolate-get-the-facts

I'm trying to cut sugar intake and recently started using a different stevia product than Truvia.

 

DeSwiss

(27,137 posts)
7. If you have roaches.....
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 07:24 AM
Jun 2014

...you can be rid of them and pretty much any other bug with something that is as natural as dirt. Because that's what it is: Diatomaceous Earth, AKA: DE

Food grade DE can be used anywhere, kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, anywhere. Dogs and cats love it because it keeps fleas away. You can eat it. Literally.

It is the residue of the diatoms that once covered the planet in its early days of formation. These single-cell creatures used limestone to form structures just as we do in making our bones. As the seas dried and plate techtonics took the continents for a ride we are left with places where vast deposits lie underground.

Most people may be familiar with food grade DE as it is used extensively in water purification filters and many more applications. It's also used in facial preparations designed to remove oil from the face. It gives it that characteristic carrot-y smell.

Sprinkle DE wherever they are. A single particle of DE can hold 300 times its weight in water. Insects' skeletons are on the outside giving them that crunchy when stepped on. But inside they're all goo. So once they come in contact with DE the small particles end up inside them through cracks at their joints and through inhalation. They literally dry out. Since roaches are cannibals, they'll eat the bodies and die too.

Once day, you just don't see them anymore. Then a few weeks later as with all roaches, the delayed egg sacs start hatching. And then they die out. And then again, but smaller each time.

- Then they're just gone. Try it, it works.


A sample of food-grade diatomaceous earth


* - Try guava nectar as a sweetener alternative. It's what I use. And it has a very low glycemic index rating. Stop consuming all products with HFCS in it. It is made from GMO corn. And HFCS has been found to increase blood sugar. Check foods as well as they try to sneak HFCS into everything now.

LynneSin

(95,337 posts)
14. Truvia and Stevia are NOT the same thing.
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 07:56 AM
Jun 2014

Truvia uses Stevia but also has other products with it to fill it out.

Stevia is a plant. And btw some plants are toxic to animals in RL as a type of protection mechanism.

JVS

(61,935 posts)
17. Damn! I remember asking my roommate in my first apartment long ago if leaving artificial sweetner..
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 09:15 AM
Jun 2014

out for the ants would fuck them over by providing no nutrition.

laundry_queen

(8,646 posts)
18. it probably kills by the same mechanism
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 09:18 AM
Jun 2014

Xylitol kills bacteria in the mouth - the fruit flies feast on it because they prefer it, but it offers no nutritional value, so they 'starve' to death. Not exactly an issue for humans who have a varied diet.

 

DeSwiss

(27,137 posts)
19. Here's the study:
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 09:28 AM
Jun 2014
Abstract

Insecticides have a variety of commercial applications including urban pest control, agricultural use to increase crop yields, and prevention of proliferation of insect-borne diseases. Many pesticides in current use are synthetic molecules such as organochlorine and organophosphate compounds. Some synthetic insecticides suffer drawbacks including high production costs, concern over environmental sustainability, harmful effects on human health, targeting non-intended insect species, and the evolution of resistance among insect populations. Thus, there is a large worldwide need and demand for environmentally safe and effective insecticides. Here we show that Erythritol, a non-nutritive sugar alcohol, was toxic to the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Ingested erythritol decreased fruit fly longevity in a dose-dependent manner, and erythritol was ingested by flies that had free access to control (sucrose) foods in choice and CAFE studies. Erythritol was US FDA approved in 2001 and is used as a food additive in the United States. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, that erythritol may be used as a novel, environmentally sustainable and human safe approach for insect pest control.



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laundry_queen

(8,646 posts)
20. Interesting stuff
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 09:37 AM
Jun 2014

so they were fed enough protein and carbs in addition to the Truvia. So it's not the same mechanism as Xylitol. That's kind of scary, as none of the other artificial sweeteners had the same effect. Yet, I guess it's important to remember that onions and chocolate are also toxic to dogs and humans consume them just fine. I know some of those sweeteners that end in 'tol' I totally avoid, due to severe gastrointestinal upset (maltitol is the WORST). I'm okay with Xylitol though. I've never used Truvia because I avoid the 'tol' part, probably.

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