Equal (sweetener)

Equal is an American brand of artificial sweetener containing aspartame, acesulfame potassium, dextrose and maltodextrin.

It is marketed as a tabletop sweetener by Merisant, a global corporation which also previously owned the well-known NutraSweet brand when it was a subsidiary of Monsanto and which has headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, Switzerland, Mexico, and Singapore.

The Chicago advertising agency for G. D. Searle, Tatham, Laird & Kudner, recommended adding an "L" to the end of the name, to imply its taste is equal to sugar.

An Equal packet contains dextrose, aspartame (1.7%), acesulfame potassium (1.2%), starch, silicon dioxide (an anti-caking agent), maltodextrin, and unspecified flavouring.

Merisant's NutraSweet company states that aspartame is now used in more than 5,000 products and consumed by some 250 million people worldwide.