BATTLING FOR YOUR TASTE BUDS From left, Sweet ’N Low (saccharin), Splenda (sucralose), Equal (aspartame) and a newcomer, Truvia (stevia), share a market of often impassioned fans.

EVER LOYAL “I’m a Splenda-holic,” said Medini Pradhan, who prepares dal with the sweetener at her home in Barrington, Ill.

BELINDA CHANG loves the balance of flavors in her Diet Coke.

Each can — she goes through about four ice-cold ones a day — has a reliable acid bite that marries well with the caramel taste of cola and the sweetness of aspartame.

This is no offhand analysis by an inferior palate. Ms. Chang is the wine director of The Modern restaurant in the Museum of Modern Art. She says she has paired Diet Coke with the wine and cuisine of nearly every winemaking region in the world.

“The winemakers in Italy made fun of me for two weeks, but I didn’t care,” she said.