pdt (06/08/82)
As has been suggested, research has apparently demonstrated that the metabolism of L-sucrose is orders of magnitude slower than that of the D-stereoisomer. Eat all you want (if you can afford the co$t), and you won't get fat. However, because the chemical reactions involved in taste may also be stereospecific (that is, only one of two mirror images of a molecule will undergo the reaction), it may not have been demonstrated yet whether humans find the L-sugar as sweet as the common D-form. Interested readers should check the last 6 months or so of *Chemical and Engineering News*, the official organ of the American Chemical Society, for further details--several articles about L-sucrose have appeared there recently. Paul Tyma Bell Labs Murray Hill, NJ 07974