Here are 25 Interesting Facts About Sugar and Sweeteners.
1-5 Interesting Facts About Sugar
1. Tic Tacs are labelled as zero sugar despite sugar being its primary ingredient because if a single serving contains less than 0.5 g of sugars, the company is allowed to express the amount of sugar in a serving as zero. One serving is one Tic Tac. – Source
2. “Sugar buzz,” or hyperactivity in children as a result of sugar intake, is a myth. – Source
3. The first ingredient in Nutella is sugar and in fact it contains 50% sugar – Source
4. One 32oz McDonald’s sweet tea has as much sugar as two and a half snickers bars. – Source
5. It is cheaper for U.S. companies to use High Fructose Corn Syrup instead of cane sugar because corn is subsidized at $40 billion. – Source
6-10 Interesting Facts About Sugar
6. During Passover, Coca-Cola sells coke with sugar instead of corn syrup in areas with a substantial Jewish population because corn syrup isn’t kosher. Keep an eye out for coke bottles with a yellow cap. – Source
7. If you eat a teaspoon of sugar after eating something spicy, it will completely neutralize the heat. – Source
8. The US pays on average 15% more for sugar than the rest of the world do to the Farm Bill. This may also be the reason soft drinks switched over to High Fructose Corn Syrup. – Source
9. 70% of milk served in U.S. schools contains on average four teaspoons of added sugar per serving (about half the amount of sugar as a serving of Coke). – Source
10. A cup of Campbell’s Tomato Bisque has more sugar than a cup of orange juice, more sugar than 6 oreos, and more sugar than a serving of B&J’s Chunky Monkey. – Source
11-15 Interesting Facts About Sugar
11. Sugar was first added to chewing gum in 1869. Ironically, a dentist named William Semple was the person behind this decision. – Source
12. Cigarettes often contain sugar, caramel and cocoa. Cocoa burned in a cigarette produces bromine gas which dilates the airways of the lungs and increases the ability to absorb nicotine. – Source
13. The use of granulated sugar for the treatment of infected wounds offers a practical, proven approach for wound care. Sugar has been called a nonspecific universal antimicrobial agent – Source
14. Sugar is the most farmed crop in the world. In 2010, 1.69 billion tons was produced on 23.8 million hectares in about 90 countries.
15. Before the 20th century, sugar was sold as one big rock and special tools were required to break pieces off. – Source
16-20 Interesting Facts About Sugar
16. Sodium Cyclamate, an artificial sweetener that is 30-50 times sweeter than sugar, was banned by the FDA in October 1969 due to claims that it could cause cancer. In the same month, it was approved for use in the UK where it is still used today. – Source
17. Aspartame, the sweetener notorious for being linked to cancer, is now called “AminoSweet” and is being marketed as a “natural sweetener.” – Source
18. Saccharin, a key ingredient in Sweet’n Low that was once considered carcinogenic, was removed from The Report on Carcinogens because humans react differently to saccharin than rats do. – Source
19. Most of the sweetener known as Sucralose is passed as excrement. Only between 11 – 27% of it is actually absorbed at all. – Source
20. Scientists have synthesized a now approved artificial sugar (sweetener) that is up to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar. It’s called Neotame – Source
21-25 Interesting Facts About Sugar
21. The Mexican free-tailed bat is featured as Bacardi’s logo because it pollinates sugar cane and protects it from insects – Source
22. Diet coke floats in water, but regular ones sink because the sugar makes it more dense than water. – Source
23. Eating an apple before a meal can result in wanting/eating less calories during a meal and adding cinnamon to a meal helps metabolize sugar quicker – Source
24. The average American has gone from consuming 20 teaspoons of sugar per year to 150 pounds of sugar per year, or nearly a half a pound of sugar per day. – Source
25. Natalie Portman (the actress) invented a simple method to demonstrate the enzymatic production of hydrogen from sugar. – Source
I do not believe that diet coke (outside the container) can float in water.