Sucralose
What it does
Intense sweetener.
How it's made
Made by chlorinating sucrose.
Sucralose is an intense artificial sweetener about 600 times sweeter than sugar, valued because it tastes clean and sugar-like and is very stable, so it can be used in baking and in a huge range of drinks, desserts and sugar-free products. It is unusual in being made from sugar itself.
It is manufactured by selectively replacing three of the hydroxyl groups on a sucrose (table sugar) molecule with chlorine atoms, through a controlled multi-step chemical process. This small change makes the molecule intensely sweet but also means the body does not recognise it as a sugar or break it down for energy.
The sucralose is purified and crystallised into a white powder. Because most of it passes through the body unabsorbed and unchanged, it provides no calories and does not affect blood sugar; its stability to heat and acid is what sets it apart from aspartame and makes it suitable for cooked and long-life products.
Possible reactions
Generally safe; some gut-microbiome questions debated.