AGENCY TO REVIEW JOHNSON AND JOHNSON SWEETENER Johnson and Johnson said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has notified the company its food additive petition for a high-intensity sweetener has been formally accepted and now will be reviewed by the agency. The company said the product, with the generic name of sucralose, is made from sugar and tastes like sugar, but is about 600 times sweeter. It yields no calories and does not promote tooth decay. Johnson and Johnson said the sweetner is being jointly developed with Tate and Lyle PLC <TATL>. Tate and Lyle is seeking approval in Canada, the United Kingdom and other European countries, Johnson and Johnson said. The company noted its petition covering the product and its safety evaluation were submitted to the FDA last month. While awaiting FDA approval, the company said, it is proceeding with plans for commercialization through its McNeil Specialty Products Co subsidiary. Johnson and Johnson said it is operating under a licensing agreement with Tate and Lyle, whose collaborative research with scientists at Queen Elizabeth College in London led to the discovery of Sucralose in 1976. Patents and licensing agreements control the use of sucralose through the year 2001, Johnson and Johnson said. Sucralose is a chlorinated derivative of ordinary sugar. The carbon-chloride bonds in sucralose are stable and are not broken during digestion or metabolism. Sucralose is essentially not metabollized by the body. The chlorine content enhances sweetness without providing calories.