Saccharin

Saccharin is the oldest artificial sweetener; it was discovered in 1879 by Ira Remsen and Constantin Fahlberg of Johns Hopkins University.

Saccharin and cancer

There have been worries about the safety of saccharin since its introduction. Even when Theodore Roosevelt was President of the United States, there was intense questioning regarding the safety of saccharin. Commenting on the questionable safety of saccharin, Theodore Roosevelt is purported to have said, "Anyone who thinks saccharin is dangerous is an idiot".

Related Topics:
Theodore Roosevelt - President of the United States - Idiot

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Throughout the 1960s, various studies suggested that saccharin might be an animal carcinogen. Concern peaked in 1977, after the publication of a study indicating a increased rate of bladder cancer in rats fed large doses of saccharin. In that year, Canada banned saccharin. The United States Food and Drug Administration also proposed a ban. At the time, saccharin was the only artificial sweetener available in the U.S., and the proposed ban met with strong public opposition, especially among diabetics. Eventually, the U.S. Congress placed a moratorium on the ban, requiring instead that all saccharin-containing foods display a warning label indicating that saccharin may be a carcinogen.

Related Topics:
1960 - Carcinogen - 1977 - Bladder - Cancer - Rat - Canada - United States - Food and Drug Administration - Diabetics - U.S. Congress

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Many studies have since been done on saccharin, with some showing a correlation between saccharin consumption and increased cancer (especially bladder cancer) and others showing no such correlation. The notorious and influential studies of the kind published in 1977 have been criticized for the ridiculously high dosages of saccharin that were given to the test subject rats; dosages were commonly hundreds of times higher than "normal" ingestion expectations would be for a consumer. No study has ever shown health risks in humans at normal doses.

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In 1991, after fourteen years, the FDA formally withdrew its 1977 proposal to ban the use of saccharin, and in 2000, the U.S. Congress repealed the law requiring saccharin products to carry health warning labels.

Related Topics:
1991 - 2000

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