Male rats show an indifference-avoidance response for increasing concentrations of the artificial sweetener sucralose

Sucralose is a nonnutritive halogenated sucrose derivative that has been described by humans as tasting predominately sweet with little or no aftertaste. In this study we examined the preference for sucralose in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. A standard 24-hour 2-bottle test was used to compare a wide range of sucralose concentrations (0.0003-10 g/L; 0.8 μmol/L-25 mmol/L) with water. The rats did not prefer sucralose to water at low concentrations (0.0003-0.3 g/L) and avoided sucralose at high concentrations (1-10 g/L). Although there are many similarities in the taste preference of humans, mice, and rats, these results suggest that male rats do not prefer sucralose and avoid it at high concentrations. An awareness of the potential species differences in preference testing for novel sweeteners is critical for the taste and nutritional research communities.