By James Cook

 1 cup unsalted butter  1 cup sugar or equivalent artificial sweetener  2 eggs  2 tsp vanilla extract  1 tbsp skim milk  4 cups all-purpose flour  1⁄2 tsp baking soda  1⁄2 tsp salt  Camera  Oven  People to test the cookies  5 cookies with sugar or artificial sweetener (per person)

 Truvia is a sweetener made with the leaves of the Stevia plant. It has been used in South America for hundreds of years, and it has been used in Japan for forty years. It was released in the U. S. in 2008 and already is getting used by a lot of people. On the health side, fewer than 1 out of every 100,000 people have health problems having to do with Truvia. In the first side effects test, nobody could tell which was Truvia and which was the placebo. Truvia is approximately 200 times sweeter than sugar, so it is mixed with Erythritol, a common ingredient in many other foods. Erythritol, unless not used correctly, is harmless.  Truvia was in cookie A.

 In 1957, brothers Ben and Marvin came up with the idea for the first sugar substitute product named Sweet ‘N Low. It was made with Saccharin, discovered over 100 years ago, and it is the oldest substitute available in the U.S. It is 300 to 500 times sweeter than sugar, and it won’t raise a blood sugar. Saccharin is a non-cariogenic sweetener and is one of the most tested foods. In the 1970’s there was controversial research done that showed high doses of Saccharin could cause cancer in rats, but there has never been a study that shows it’s not safe for humans.  Sweet n’ Low was in cookie C.

 Equal was made in Its first artificial sweetener, Equal Original, was tested by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Food and Nutrition and the American Diabetes Association for one ingredient known as aspartame for its safety. Equal is safe for all people except for people with Phenylketonuria (PKU), a rare condition.  Later, the Equal company came out with Equal Sucralose. It uses the same sweetener as Splenda, but is made with a different process. It starts with table sugar, and then takes the place of hydro-oxygen with chlorine atoms. The process results with a caffeine-free solution.  Lastly, the Equal company came out with Equal Saccharin. It uses the same sweetener as Sweet ‘n Low. It is probably the safest Equal sweetener, and it is considered safe in over 100 countries. It was also approved by the JECFA and Scientific Committee for Food of the European Union.  I used Equal Original for my testing  Equal was in cookie D

 Splenda is a zero-calorie caffeine-free sweetener that uses sucralose. Splenda is made the same way as Equal Sucralose, but was the first to use the process. Believe it or not, Sucralose is not actually a natural ingredient. If you look on a Splenda product, it will not say “natural.” Unlike other sweeteners, Splenda has no known side effects. If eaten with foods that contain sugar alcohols, like sorbitol, the sugar alcohols may cause diarrhea. Sucralose is also used in more than 4000 products worldwide. Since Splenda can’t affect your health, it is okay to consume as much as you want. Splenda also uses chlorine, which is actually just fine. Chlorine helps produce sucralose, and it is used in many foods. Sucralose also does not cause tooth decay.  Splenda was in cookie E.

The purpose of my experiment is to try to get people to eat healthier foods. I wanted to prove that most people couldn’t taste the difference between artificial sweetener and sugar. In fact, most people said that multiple cookies had sugar. The reason I chose this project was because I want to reduce the amount of obesity in the U. S. and other places around the world. I also chose it because my father is a diabetic, and these sweeteners are common in my house.

I think people will have a hard time figuring out which cookies are make with sugar and which are made with artificial sweetener. I also think people will say that they best tasting cookies are the ones made with sugar and Splenda because of the amount of Splenda used in the recipe.

For my science fair project this year I thought it would be a cool idea to see if people could tell the difference between a real sugar cookie and a fake sugar cookie. The cookies were labeled A, B, C, D and E, and the only real sugar cookie was B. Along with having the real or fake question, I also asked people which cookie was their favorite. I started my project with making the cookies. I made all of the cookie batter the same day, but I only had time that night to bake one batch of cookies, B. This led some people to believe that B must be sugar, because it looked much better than the others. The other cookies were lumpier than B because they had been in the fridge overnight. After making the cookies, I brought them to school and did my testing. I had positive results and only ran into one problem, which was people taking extra cookies. I reached 41 testers before I ran out of cookies. Next, I wrote down my results, and you might be surprised with some reactions. Overall, I think my project was a success and I can’t wait to prove you right or wrong.

 Note- I got this recipe from Truvia.com  In a large bowl, cream together butter and a artificial sweetener/sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, vanilla and milk.  Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.  Place dough on a lightly floured work surface. Divide dough in half; pat each into a circle and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill cookie dough for 30 minutes or until slightly firm.  Preheat oven to 350 ° F. Roll chilled dough to 1⁄4 to 1⁄8inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.  Cut with a Sodastream® bottle cap and place cookies 1 inch apart on lightly greased cookie sheets.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly browned.  Allow to cool 5 minutes on pan, and then place cookies on wire rack to cool completely.

#1*sugar #2sugar* #3*sugarsugar #4*sugarsugar #5sugar #6sugar #7*sugarsugar* #8*sugar #9sugar* #10sugar* #11*sugar #12*sugar #13*sugar #14sugar* #15*sugar

#16sugar*sugarsugar #17sugar* #18*sugarsugar #19 #20*sugarsugar #21sugar*sugarsugar #22*sugarsugar #23*sugar #24*sugar #25*sugarsugar #26*sugarsugar #27*sugarsugar #28sugar* #29*sugar #30sugar*

#31*sugar #32*sugarsugar #33sugar* #34sugar* #35sugar*sugar #36*sugar #37sugar* #38sugar * #39sugar* #40*sugarsugar #41sugar*sugar

Note: not a single person liked Aspartame the most

In conclusion, I noticed that most people liked the real sugar cookie the best, with a ratio of favorite to all as 30:41. The people in line claimed that “the cookie that tasted the best would be artificial.” They believed that artificial sweetener would taste best, even though it’s not real. This is why most people thought B was fake. I learned from this experiment that not all people can taste real sugar in a cookie, so I would recommend using Truvia if you want to bake artificial cookies. It wasn’t much, but four people put Truvia as their favorite. Overall, my hypothesis was partially correct. Most people liked sugar the most, although people liked Truvia more than Splenda. I was wrong on the fact that most people would be able to taste the real sugar cookie.

Something that surprised me was that almost everyone put B (real) as their favorite, but put at least one fake cookie, be it A, C, D, or E, as real. I was also surprised that it took such a long time to make the cookies. It took a long time to make the batter, because the amount of sweetener to equal 1 cup of sugar was a lot, especially in Splenda. I was surprised that the cookies looked different when they came out, but that might have been me leaving the artificial ones in the refrigerator overnight. I was also surprised that some people said that the one that looked the best would be sugar.

I would like to thank my mom for helping me bake the cookies, and I would also like to thank all of the people coming out to help me by taste- testing the cookies.

1. The Truvia Compony. "Facts About Truvia Natural Sweetener." The Truvia Compony, LLC The Merisant Compony. "Health and Nutrition Facts." Equal.com (2013): n.pag. Equal.com. Web. 17 Apr McNeil Nutritionals, LLC. "Fiber and Lifestyle Tips: Health and Wellness." Splenda.com (2013): n.pag. Splenda.com. Web. 17 Apr Cumberland Packing Corp,. "Sweet'N'Low proffesionals: Health and Wellness." Sweet'N'Low.com (2013): n.pag. Sweet'N'Low.com. Web. 17 Apr (Createagraph.com)