I’ve had a reply from the makers of Digestive Advantage about the whole sucralose situation. Basically, they definitely have added sucralose to the chewable version of Digestive Advantage IBS, but only a small amount, and the non-chewable version does not contain any artificial sweeteners at all.
So, kudos to the company for getting back to me so quickly and being prepared to explain the change – but I have to say that from a personal point of view I’d still be inclined to avoid artificial sweeteners if at all possible, just because I can’t bring myself to take the chance with things like that.
This is what the spokesman said:
“First, concerning the new formula, we want to assure you that based on our testing and our ingredient specialists, we are fully confident that our new IBS formula is highly efficacious and is actually a superior product. Our rational for the new formula was to take the sugar out to improve digestion, and remove the artificial dyes due to consumer concerns, while maintaining a chewable pill. To maintain an acceptable product taste, we added an extremely small amount of sucralose, just 0.77mg compared to a typical serving size (one packet of artificial sweetener), which contains 11.9mg of sucralose.
While we are confident in the new chewable formulation, we understand that some consumers have a concern with artificial sweeteners and we have another option for those IBS sufferers. Digestive Advantage IBS (non-chewable) Caplet version, with no added sugar or sweeteners, is available for sale in a 92-count box at Costco Wholesale Clubs and online at drugstore.com, CVS.com and other online retailers.”
So, the situation’s not as bad as it first seemed, and it may be that the amount of sucralose is too small too affect most IBS sufferers. However, the fact remains that many of us have very sensitive guts, and I wouldn’t have have heard about the change if two people hadn’t written to my IBS Treatment site saying that the new version of Digestive Advantage was not working as well as the old.
So, still something to bear in mind if you’re thinking about trying the product, and remember that the non-chewable capsules are the ones without the sucralose.
If anyone does have any more concerns about this issue then you can call Ganeden Biotech (toll free in the US) at 1-866-777-0825 or email info@ganedenbiotech.com.
