Artificial Sweeteners: A History

Which artificial sweeteners are safest to consume? Studies done in different countries have conflicting information. Saccharine, one of the oldest sugar substitutes, is banned in Canada, but OK in the US. And cyclamates are forbidden in the US but sold in Canada.

Confused? So is everybody else, IMHO. I'm not goting to try and sort it out here! This is just about the history of artificial sweeteners. If you want the dirt on all the latest health studies all over the world, here's a recent (19 Nov 07) Los Angeles Times article.

Saccharine was invented in 1879 when a chemist named Constantin Fahlberg spilled something on his hands at a lab at Johns Hopkins University. Apparently, Fahlberg was not just clumsy, but unhygienic. He didn't wash his hands, and at dinner that evening he happened to lick his fingers and taste something sweet.

Fahlberg went to his mentor, Ira Remsen, who was in charge of the lab. Together, they published a paper on the sweet substance, but Fahlberg patented it on his own, cutting Remsen out. For the record, Remsen claimed that he was the one who spilled the stuff on his hands.

So. . . both claimed to be clumsy and dirty, but Fahlberg was also sneaky. And in the end, very rich.

Saccharine is 300-500 times sweeter than sugar. During World War I, sugar shortages made it very popular. The FDA began investigating the substance as early as 1907, and seventy years later, it was linked to cancer in rats. Attempts were made to ban saccharine, but a warning label was the only result.

Since 1957, saccharine is what's in Sweet'N Low, in those little pink packages.

Aspartame, marketed as Equal and NutriSweet, was discovered in much the same way, in 1965, Jim Schlatter, a chemist at G.D. Searle, was working on ulcer treatments. He claimed to lick his finger as he reached for a paper and tasted something sweet. He had washed his hands recently (how nice to know that hygiene has improved since 1879!) so he knew the substance came from his lab.

The name Aspartame comes from "aspartyl-phenylalanine methyl ester," the compound Schlatter was working on. It's about 200 times sweeter than sugar, and lacks the bitter after-taste other artificial sweeteners have.

The FDA didn't approve aspartame till 1981, because of the conflicting studies hinting at health risks, especially for people with migraines. Also, a component of aspartame converts to formaldehyde at temperatures above 90 degrees F.

Sucrolose was discovered in London by a graduate student named Shashikant Phadnis, who confused the words "tasting" and "testing." In 1976, Phadnis was working for the British sugar company Tate & Lyle, at King's College. He tasted a compound, noted its exceptional sweetness, and voila--a new product.

Sucrolose was first marketed in Canada in 1991. The FDA approved sucralose in 1998, and its chemistry does NOT change when heated or baked, making it a great sugar substitute for cooks.

Because it is so sweet (600 times sweeter than sugar) it's mixed with other fibers to bring its volume up to something more or less equal to sugar.

This is the baddie, at least in the US. It's still sold in Canada, though, as Sugar Twin. It was also marketed as Sucaryl. It's 30-50 times as sweet as sugar.

The discovery dates back to 1937, when Michael Sveda, a graduate student at the University of Illinois, was working synthesis of anti-pyretic (anti-fever) drugs. He put his cigarette down on the lab bench. When he put it back in his mouth, he discovered the sweet taste of cyclamate.

Cyclamates were banned in the US in 1969, when studies linked it to increased cancer risk. Other studies conflict and vindicate cyclamates--which is why other counties still use it. But the FDA has never lifted the ban in the US.