Hmmm....I didn't realize some sodas had switched to Splenda as sweetener. I've hated diet sodas since the first day they came out...I could always taste the AF bitterness, so if I wasn't going to drink the "real" thing (i.e. with sugar, not HFCS), no thank you to the other stuff. Splenda/EZ sweet type things (the liquid ones) are "acceptable" to my own personal taste, but still not good enough to justify using them very much. I learned to re-train my taste buds away from sweet tea and things like that.

FYI, aspartame is derived from one of Amino Acid which is components of Protein. Unless you do not eat protein and get rid of your body, you are stuck with it. "Till death do us part."

Life including you is composed of Protein.
Protein is composed of various amino acid.

Quote from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame
Aspartame is a methyl ester of the dipeptide of the natural amino acids L-aspartic acid and L-phenylalanine.

Your body is made of Protein. You eat Protein.
So in order for you to get rid of Protein.... Or not eating Protein....

Let's clarify then, aspartame is a methyl ester molecule of a combined phenylalanine and aspartic acid peptide that does not occur in nature. It is not a protein. Like so many other artificially produced compounds that may also contain amino acids or enzymes or other naturally occurring things that can be found in a human, aspartame has been engineered in a lab. While we all have presence of the amino acids phenylalanine and aspartic acid, we do not have aspartame in its form unless it's ingested. You can eat all the protein you want, and you won't get aspartame. Since it is artificially produced, it doesn't behave the way one would expect phenylalanine or aspartic acid as part of a protein chain would behave. And when the amino acids are isolated, they can produce unpredictable results.

While the FDA and many other organizations claim aspartame is safe for human consumption, some people have adverse reactions. Yes, protein-eating people. But then again, minimal fat consumption and sugar have been claimed to be safe as well. And at one time, 20,000 physicians thought regular tobacco use was healthy. Go figure!

LOL - it is a fatal failing of mine that I don't want to appear rude - especially in a small town where the clerk is the mother of one of my students

Google do amino acids exist freely in nature

Last word on this . . . of course they do! Aspartame does not. It must be manufactured. That's why it's called an artificial sweetener. Just like plastics that contain naturally occurring elements, they must be made by humans.

Enjoy the journey, locarb4avr! Be well.

Ever wonder why seafood/meat soup without any carb tastes sweet???
Granted, it could be glycogen, but...

180 means 1 gram(4kcal) of Aspartame equal to 180 gram(720kcal) of sugar.
0.1g Aspartame equal to 18g sugar
0.01g Aspartame equal to 1.8g sugar

The only way to find out is to do exhaust google search to see if anyone did the test or do it self.

As to Food Science, nowadays most food on the market are manufactured.
You do not know they are manufactured does not mean they are not manufactured. It is a matter of definition of "manufactured."