Artificial Sweeteners (cont.)
Saccharin: What is the positive side?
Saccharin has been around for over 100 years and claims to be the best
researched sweetener. Saccharin is also known as Sweet and Low, Sweet Twin,
Sweet'N Low, and Necta Sweet. It does not contain any calories, does not raise
blood sugar levels and is 200 to 700 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar).
Out of the five FDA approved nonnutritive sweeteners, saccharin is often chosen
to be the safest one. The FDA's guidelines on the use of saccharin for beverages
are not to exceed 12 mg/fluid ounce, and in processed food, the amount is not to
exceed 30 mg per serving. The Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for saccharin is 5
mg/kg of body weight. To determine your ADI, divide your weight in pounds by 2.2
and then multiply it by 5. For example, if you weighed 180 lbs., your weight in
kg would be 82 (180 divided by 2.2) and your ADI for saccharin would be 410 mg
(5 x 82). Saccharin is used in tabletop sweeteners, baked goods, jams, chewing
gum, canned fruit, candy, dessert toppings, and salad dressings. It also is
useful in cosmetic products, vitamins, and pharmaceuticals.
There was a great deal of controversy surrounding the safety of saccharin
back in the '70s. In 1977, research showed bladder tumors in male rats with the
ingestion of saccharin. The FDA proposed a ban on saccharin based on the Delaney
Clause of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, enacted in 1958. This clause
prohibits the addition to the human food supply of any chemical that had caused
cancer in humans or animals. Congress intervened after public opposition to the
ban and allowed saccharin to remain in the food supply as long as the label
carried this warning: "Use of this product may be hazardous to your health. This
product contains saccharin which has been determined to cause cancer in
laboratory animals." Further research was required to confirm the tumor
findings.
Since then, more than 30 human studies have been completed and found that the
results found in rats did not translate to humans, making saccharin safe for
human consumption. The original study published in 1977 has since been
criticized for the very high dosages, that were hundreds of times higher than
"normal" ingestion for humans, that were given to the rats. In 2000, the
National Toxicology Program (NTP) of the National Institutes of Health concluded
that saccharin should be removed from the list of potential carcinogens. The
warning has now been removed from saccharin-containing products.
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