Equal is a commercial brand name of an artificial sweetener. There are, of course, several different kinds of artificial sweetener. I think Equal might be aspartame, which Dr. Atkins and many on this forum don't like because for some people it interferes with their metabolism in a way which is contrary to the diet's preferences.

I am sure you can find artificial sweeteners in the UK. Read the labels to see which brands are which sweeteners.

Atkins likes Splenda (so do I). I list the ingredients in Splenda off the box for you: destrose, maltodextrin, sucralose. Some of the packaging on Splenda products proclaim that Splenda is derived from actual sugar. I am not a food scientist so I don't know what difference that makes!

Look at the labels and find an artificial sweetener with those ingredients!

Diet soft drinks, here in the states, are virtually all made with aspartame. You will find debates on this forum about diet soft drinks because of the aspartame.

The aspartame doesn't seem to mess me up.

NOW another artificial sweetener is sacharin, which was banned in the states 20+ years ago. I have read that it is widely in use in Europe and I have been advised to go to Canada (I live an hour from Windsor) and buy sacharin artificial sweetener. I THINK, but am not sure, that sacharin (maybe spelled with two 'c's?) is the "best" articial sweetner. You could look for that one.

A natural food suplement called "stevia" has a strong sweetening effect for many people and some folks on this forum use it. Look around and you will see it debated. Some people don't get any sweet sensation from it at all. Others swear by it. I have some stevia for experimentation but thus far Splenda is the best. I do remember with fond affection diet soft drinks from my use sweetened with sacharin and I remember that it tasted exactly like a sugared drink so I will eventually travel to Windsor to try some . . .

There, more than you ever wanted to know about Equal.