how many calories in supposedly calorie free sweetener packets

Hey,

I'd like to know how many calories are in artificial sweetners.  I use a ridiculous amount in my coffee so i suspect they could actually add up to something not-unsubstantial. 

I'm especially curious about Equal packets. 

Its extremely difficult to find out how many calories are in these things because FDA rules (evily) permit items with less than five calories to be expressed as zero.  In reality, these things obviously do have a caloric value (even if, hypothetically, aspartame and saccharides were truly dietitically neutral, which I really doubt, Equal packets have sugar alcohol for bulking) 

Obviously this information isn't like, well publicized, since it would mean people would use less of them...but someone must have been able to find it out. 

It matters a lot to me since, I probably use 5 per cup of coffee on average and I drink a *lot* of coffee. If an Equal packet is 4.999 calories for instance, then my coffee/tea habit would contribute a much larger chunk of my daily caloric intake then I'm aware of (like, 150-200 calories, - I drink a lot of coffee and tea!).  But if an equal packet is only .1 calories then even the obscene amount of coffee that I drink would be dietically negligent (apart from the caffine which...clearly has an impact :-p ). 

Also if at all possible please link to a source if you know of one.

P.s. (I've added the details with the hope that if no one reading this knows off the top of their head, someone reading this will 1. have similar coffee or tea drinking habits and after thinking about it want to find out as well 2. be more skilled at searching the internet for the answer than I am 3.  post the answer here if they find one!)

According to the FDA, Aspartame has the same amount of calories per gram as sugar (4), but since you use a much smaller amount, the calories per cup of coffee or whatever is less.  See

http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2006/406_swe eteners.html

for details.

If you're not exaggerating and you're consuming 40 packs of equal per day (and the associated coffee with caffeine), then in all honesty you have bigger problems than the 4 calories per packet  :P

Anyway, I won't lecture you because lord knows I love my Splenda. For calorie-counting purposes, I would estimate the packets to be right at the 4 calorie mark, to be honest.

I used to be obsessed with equal - but it turns out that these artificial sweetners could actually be really bad for our diets. I say go natural when you can and just stay in moderation.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1711763,00.html

Why not find other things to drink?  Too much caffeine isn't a good thing to be drinking... it can lead to fluid retention for example, also sleep problems and make things like arrhythmia (palpitations) worse.  And too many sweetners can also have side-effects.... bloating/gas/digestion issues.. plus the cumulative effect isn't really understood.

Try taking your coffee and tea unsweetened as a first move.  It'll taste horrible for the first two or three days but it's amazing how quickly you'll get used to it.  And then cut the coffee down and drink more water instead.   I think you'd feel better and it would make weight-control easier.

Based on gram weight serving size artificial sweeteners can claim 0.

BUT the actual powder is too small to deliver easily and so they are mixed with maltose - the maltose has 4 calories per packet.

Which means that while labeling allows the companies to claim their product is calorie free - it actually has 4 calories per packet.

I dont recall where I read that though - I will see if I can find the source.

http://www.askmen.com/sports/foodcourt_100/10 6b_eating_well.html