During their research, a substance accidentally splashed on Fahlberg’s finger and he noticed the substance had a sweet taste, which he traced to the chemical commonly known as saccharin. Fahlberg and Remsen soon developed a synthesis of saccharin from o-sulfamoylbenzoic acid. Fahlberg and Remsen co-authored research papers on saccharin over the next few years.
Fahlberg opened a saccharin factory near Magdeburg, Germany, and another in the U.S. Even then, it was a boon to food manufacturers and consumers, especially those with diabetes, who could use the new ingredient to sweeten their foods and beverages without the calories or glucose reaction associated with many sweeteners.
Saccharin enjoyed great commercial success in periods of short sugar supply, e.g., during world wars I and II. Saccharin was the first widely commercialized non-nutritive sweetener.
Saccharin’s use became widespread during World War I because of a sugar shortage. In the 1960s, it began to be promoted for weight loss, most familiarly under the trade name Sweet’n Low.
After World War II, and on into the 1960s, as the modern American interest in weight control developed, saccharin’s use and popularity continued to grow. For more than 100 years, saccharin has been a low-calorie alternative to sugar for consumers.
In 1997, the FDA proposed a ban on saccharin because of concerns about rats that developed bladder cancer after receiving high doses of saccharin. Foods containing saccharin were required to carry a label warning that sweetener could be a health hazard and that it was found to cause cancer in laboratory animals.
In 2001, saccharin was officially declared safe by FDA and the ban was removed. In 2010 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency removes saccharin from its list of hazardous substances.
History of Saccharin – artificial sweetness
