Tate & Lyle yesterday said demand for sucralose, its calorie-free sweetener sold under the Splenda name, "remains very strong with current production capacity fully utilised". The pre-close trading statement helped lift the shares 9p to 549½p.

They have risen from 300p last May as investors have caught on to the potential of sucralose. Tate is extending its first sucralose factory, in Alabama, and is building a second in Singapore. In February, Tate won a contract to supply sucralose for Diet Coke.