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Could Truvia® be the Solution?

Sugar Substitute Turns Out to be Potent Insecticide

Drexel University

June 5, 2014 —

flies that were killed by Truvia
Flies that died after consuming food that contained the sweetener erythritol.
Credit: Baudier et al., Drexel University

Researchers have just discovered that erythritol, the main component of the popular sweetener Truvia®, kills insects.

The study, published in the latest PLoS ONE, suggests that the popular sugar substitute could be an effective and human-safe insecticide. No other known sweeteners currently on the market exhibit these toxic effects on insects, according to the authors.

Scientists are always on the lookout for potent bug killers that won't harm people, so it was surprising that the common sweetener does the deadly job so well.

"I feel like this is the simplest, most straightforward work I've ever done, but it's potentially the most important thing I've ever worked on," senior author Sean O'Donnell, a Drexel University professor of biology and biodiversity, was quoted as saying in a press release.

Another researcher who worked on the project was ninth grader Simon D. Kaschock-Marenda. Three years ago, he questioned why both of his parents had stopped eating white sugar when trying to eat healthier.

"He asked if he could test the effects of different sugars and sugar substitutes on fly health and longevity for his science fair, and I said, 'Sure!'" recalled Daniel Marenda, Simon's father who is also a co-author of the study.

The father and son duo went to a local supermarket and bought every type of sugar and sugar substitute that they could. They raised "baby" flies (supplied by Marenda's lab) on the various compounds to see what would happen.

"After six days of testing these flies in our house, he (Simon) came back to me and said, 'Dad, all the flies in the Truvia® vials are dead,'" Marenda said. "To which I responded, ‘OK…we must have screwed up somehow. Let’s repeat the experiment!'"


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