russell@ihuxu.UUCP (Larry Russell) (03/10/84)
Does anyone know why there is silicon dioxide (i. e., sand or glass) in the little packets of Nutrasweet marketed as Equal? Larry Russell AT&T-Bell Laboratories Naperville, IL
ntt@dciem.UUCP (Mark Brader) (03/13/84)
Larry Russell: Does anyone know why there is silicon dioxide (i. e., sand or glass) in the little packets of Nutrasweet marketed as Equal? Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame are generally more powerful than sugar. The quantity you would need to measure out for your coffee would be so small that you would have trouble handling it. Therefore the sweetener is presented in a dilute (5-10%) "solution" in a less potent powder. The "solvent" may be sand, which flows freely and is biologically inert, or it may be sugar, since you will need much less than you would without the sweetener. By the way, you mean the packets of Nutrasweet(TM) brand of *aspartame*, marketed as Equal(TM). Why they feel the need to put a brand name on something they don't even sell directly, I don't know. Mark Brader
andrew@inmet.UUCP (03/16/84)
#R:ihuxu:-26000:inmet:6400105:000:111 inmet!andrew Mar 15 07:35:00 1984 Silicon dioxide is a common anti-caking agent; that's why it's in your NutraSweet (among many other products).
sdyer@bbncca.ARPA (Steve Dyer) (03/18/84)
Lactose (milk sugar) is used as the main carrier for aspartame;
the SiO2 is added, just as it is often added to salt, as an agent
to help it flow freely. There's much less SiO2 than lactose in
a packet of Equal.
Equal is the brand name for the combination of lactose and NutraSweet
in packet and table form. NutraSweet is an ingredient in Equal, and it
a trademark for the generic chemical "aspartame."
--
/Steve Dyer
{decvax,linus,ima}!bbncca!sdyer
sdyer@bbncca.ARPAmoriarty@uw-june (Jeff Meyer) (03/26/84)
A friend of mine who is a chemist wasn't sure, but he says that SiO2 is a general anti-caking agent used by manafacturers. He mentioned many other products use it for this purpose (chili powders, etc.). Trivia Is My Business | Currently residing in | UUCP: -jwm- | {ihnp4|decvax|tektronix}!uw-beaver!uw-june!moriarty | ARPANET: AKA MORIARTY | moriarty@washington
notes@iuvax.UUCP (03/27/84)
#R:uw-june:-113900:iuvax:500006:000:370 iuvax!apratt Mar 26 15:05:00 1984 Isn't SiO2 basically SAND? I always thought (with no foundation in reality) that the SiO2 was in there to make Equal granular, and that one of the other ingredients was included to make the SiO2 dissolve in liquids. I thought it was kind of funny that it required one ingredient to cancel the effects of the other. -- Allan Pratt ihnp4!inuxc!iuvax!apratt