Artificial Sweetener: Saccharin

I recently did a group presentation on artificial sweeteners, and I want to share some interesting information we found when researching. Saccharin, which is known as Sweet’N Low to the general public, is 300 times sweetener than sugar. It is calorie free like many other sugar substitutes and this is because it does not metabolize in the body. Sweet’N Low is 3.6% saccharin. Unlike aspartame, saccharin is stable when heated, even in the presence of acids. It does not react chemically with other food ingredients and stores well.

A study in the 1960’s showed that high levels of saccharin caused bladder cancer in lab rats. As a result, Canada banned it and the FDA followed by requiring a warning label and mandated further studies on saccharin. A later study found that saccharin causes cancer in male rates by a mechanism not found in humans. At high doses, it causes a precipitate to form in rat urine and this damage the cells lining the bladder. A tumor forms when the cells regenerate. Therefore, the warning label requirement was repealed in the U.S. in 2001. However, some countries have banned the use of saccharin.