FREE ESSAY ON SACCHRIN

SACCHRIN

If saccharin is safe, why does it require a warning label?
Saccharin has always been surrounded by controversy. As early as 1907, the public was
concerned over its safety and proposed banning it. Theodore Roosevelt, a diabetic, fought
the idea. He said, My doctor gives it to me every day...Anybody who says saccharin is
injurious to health is an idiot(Corcoran 12). Saccharin survived the onslaught for
another forty years. It wasn't until the bittersweet chemical hit the mainstream consumer
market in such things as diet sodas, pharmaceuticals, and chewing gum that it came under
fire again. Scientists suggested that saccharin might be a carcinogen in 1951. 
Saccharin is the ancestor of all artificial sweeteners. It was discovered by accident in
1879 by I. Remsen and C. Fahlberg at John Hopkins University. Fahlberg noticed a sweet
taste on his hands after working with some chemicals in the lab. Through taste tests back
at his laboratory he found the source of the sweetness was saccharin. A process for
synthesizing saccharin was soon created, and commercial production of saccharin began in
1900 (Beck). 
Saccharin is an accepted replacement for cane sugar, and is now the most widely used
sweetener in the world. This fact is alarming because although the mild carcinogenic has
been deemed safe for human consumption, several studies have linked the chemical to
bladder cancer. If the chemical were truly safe, it would not require a warning label on
products that contain it. 
Despite the fact that the United States government has deemed saccharin safe, in
actuality, it should be banned until its effects on the human body are completely
understood. Saccharin is an organic petroleum-based compound that is three to five
hundred times sweeter than sucrose. It is non-nutritive because the human body is unable
to metabolize the foreign chemical. Saccharin does not contribute calories; for this
reason it is commonly used in diet foods. The obese [feel] that saccharin is their
lifeline to slimdom, and diabetics [claim] it is essential to control their blood sugar
(Brody 482). 
The same people who consume saccharin certainly would not knowingly eat something that is
classified as toxic waste; however, they do it on a daily basis. Saccharin's alias is EPA
Hazardous Waste number U202. In fact, workers who handle saccharin are cautioned,
EXERCISE DUE CARE. AVOID CONTACT WITH EYES, SKIN, CLOTHING. WASH THOROUGHLY AFTER
HANDLING. IF SWALLOWED, IF CONCIOUS, IMMEDIATELY INDUCE VOMITING (MSDS). 
In 1958, however, saccharin was added to the GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) list,
another paradox. In 1972, the results of a long-term study showed that rats fed saccharin
had developed bladder tumors. Subsequently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
removed saccharin from GRAS status and issued a regulation limiting the use of saccharin
in foods. Then in 1974, a National Academy of Science review found that, Saccharin itself
could not be identified as the cause of the tumors because of possible impurities as well
as problems with experimental design and procedures (Kennedy 131). Therefore, the FDA
decided not to ban saccharin until they received the results of a study being conducted
in Canada. 
In March 1977, the Canadian study showed that feeding large doses of saccharin to
pregnant rats and their weanlings produced bladder cancers in the male offspring. The
Canadians immediately banned saccharin. When the FDA announced its intentions to follow
suit, public outcry led to a Congressionally voted eighteen-month moratorium. The
American people wanted more time to evaluate the results of the study. 
Shortly thereafter, Congress enacted the Saccharin Study and Labeling Act, which stayed
the FDA's hand temporarily and ordered a warning label on all saccharin products: Use of
this product may be hazardous to your health. This product contains saccharin which has
been determined to cause cancer in laboratory animals (Brody 482-483). Nonetheless, the
moratorium has continually been extended until the present day. 
During 1978 and 1979, the National Cancer Institute and FDA conducted a population-based
study on the possible role of saccharin in causing bladder cancer in humans. In general,
people in the study who used an artificial sweetener had no greater risk of bladder
cancer than the population as a whole. However, when only the data for heavy users was
examined, there was some suggestive evidence of an increased risk, particularly in
persons who consumed both diet drinks and sugar substitutes and who used at least one of
these two forms heavily (Carcinogenicity). In the study, heavy use was defined as merely
six or more servings of sugar substitute or two or more 8-ounce servings of diet drink
daily. Consequently, several studies have found that people with bladder cancer were more
likely to have eaten food that contained saccharin than were people who didn't have
bladder cancer. 
The National Cancer Institute compared the diets of 5,800 similar people who were
disease-free to the diets of 3,000 men and women with bladder cancer. Those who reported
consuming high levels of saccharin on a daily basis were found to be at a higher risk for
association to poorly differentiated bladder tumors (Corcoran 13). 
Saccharin is the most widely used sugar substitute in the world, and yet we still do not
fully understand its effects on the human body. Drinking one can of diet soda per day can
increase the risk of bladder cancer by sixty percent (Goulhart). The fact that it has
never been conclusively proven to cause cancer in humans does not make saccharin safe. A
dollar's worth of saccharin will do the sweetening of twenty dollar's worth of sugar; for
this reason, the FDA will not decisively ban the chemical sweetener. They are waiting for
the results of the ultimate human test that has been taking place since saccharine was
invented in 1879. 
Saccharin didn't become widely used until thirty years ago, and bladder cancer takes
decades to develop; the near future holds the definitive answer about its safety. Safety
aside, saccharine is also a top allergen, causing everything from fatigue to nausea and
disorientation. Any food that requires a warning label shouldn't be safe. 
Works cited
Beck, Karl M. Saccharin. McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. 8th ed.
1997. Brody, Jane E. Jane Brody's Nutrition Book. New York: WW Norton, 1981: 482. 
Corcoran, Leila, and Michael Jacobson. Saccharin: Bittersweet. Nutrition Action Health
Letter April 1998: 11-13. 
Carcinogenicity of Saccharin in Laboratory Animals and Humans. CSPI Reports. Online.
Center for Science in the Public Interest. Available HTTP:
http://www.cspinet.org/reports/sacanada.htm. 
Goulhart, Frances S. Nutritional Self-Defense. New York: Dodd, 1984. MSDS for Saccharin
Sodium.
Material Safety Data Sheets. Online. University of Utah. Available HTTP:
http://www.chem.utah.edu/MSDS/S/SACCHARIN_SODIUM.