I just walked my jar of vanilla-flavored artificial sweetener out to the curb and dropped it in the trash—the first ingredient is a bad one. Darn! I only use it in my smoothies to give a little vanilla and sweetness because the yogurt is pretty tart and cancels out the sweet bananas. Strawberries can use a little sugar also (to my taste, mind you.) I don't use Aspartame (makes me sick) or other big-name artificial sweeteners like Splenda, but a story on NPR this morning talked about a new report regarding an additive called Erythritol, made from corn, that bulks up artificial sweeteners (used in conjunction with several I don't use and with stevia, that I do use. Saccharine seems to be unaffected by this - I use those pink packets in restaurant iced tea.) Used a lot in weight loss or Keto situations, it can cause heart problems. Great. And here's the problem:

Here’s where it gets really tricky. You could be eating foods that contain erythritol and not even know it.

Erythritol falls into the category of Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That means long-term safety studies of erythritol aren’t required currently. It also means food companies don’t have to list erythritol on their nutrition labels.

The FDA considers erythritol safe because it’s a naturally occurring compound, Dr. Hazen explains. But the problem is that the quantities it’s used for in foods are much, much higher than what is natural and known to be safe for your body.

While your foods may not state specifically that they contain erythritol, Dr. Hazen adds that it’s commonly found in items like sugar-free varieties of ice cream, candy, gum, cookies, cakes, protein bars and fruit spreads.

I use straight powdered stevia, that's all that is supposedly in the jar. But I need to look into it, learn if they use anything they don't name.

In other news, my little camera sold on eBay. That goes a long way to recouping the cost of the new lens for the big camera. It's not a very big item leaving the house, and it's a wash since a new lens entered, but every little bit helps. There are a few items from the garage cleanup in the trash this morning and it is a delightful space to work in now, so that was the big winner in the last few days.

I still have to clear along the side of the garage and look for a misplaced watering tool since this morning I've realized that a pine in the front yard is dying. The "sick tree treatment" from my organic gardening guru has been known to help them, but I need the water auger to drill holes to aerate out there. It's around here somewhere.