• MSNBC/AP, Wednesday, April 11, 2007 11:01 AM

Attorneys for Merisant Co., which makes Equal and NutraSweet, told jurors in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia yesterday that the advertising and packaging for McNeil Nutritionals' Splenda misled consumers into thinking that it was safer and healthier than other artificial sweeteners.

McNeil initially marketed Splenda with the tagline, "Made from sugar so it tastes like sugar. But it's not sugar." After disappointing sales, the company dropped the last sentence and sales skyrocketed, according to Merisant attorney Gregory LoCascio. McNeil officials desperately fought to keep Splenda from being positioned in the marketplace as an artificial sweetener, a label they felt would be deadly, LoCascio charges.

McNeil lawyer Steven Zalesin says Merisant filed suit in 2004 simply because Splenda, introduced about seven years ago, outsells Equal about 4-to-1. American consumers prefer Splenda because it tastes like sugar and is easier to bake with, he claims.

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