Saccharin - an artificial sweetener

Companies use saccharin as a non-nutritive or artificial sweetener. Saccharin is one of the oldest artificial sweeteners on the market. In fact, it has been used to sweeten foods and drinks for over 100 years.

Saccharin is about 300–500 times as sweet as sucrose, depending upon its concentration and the type of food medium in which it is used. It is commercially available in four forms: acid saccharin, sodium saccharin, potassium saccharin and calcium saccharin. Sodium saccharin is the most commonly used form because of its high solubility, stability, and low production costs.

Saccharin is made in a laboratory by oxidizing the chemicals o-toluene sulfonamide or phthalic anhydride. It looks like white, crystalline powder.

Saccharin is commonly used as a sugar substitute because it doesn’t contain calories or carbs. It’s popular as a zero-calorie substitute for sugar in cooking. In addition to carbonated diet drinks it is also used as a sweetener in low-calorie processed foods such as fruit juices, candies, jams, jellies, and cookies.

Food manufacturers often use saccharin because it’s fairly stable and has a long shelf life. It’s safe to consume even after years of storage.
Saccharin - an artificial sweetener

History of Saccharin – artificial sweetness

Saccharin was discovered by Constantin Fahlberg & Ira Remsen in 1879 at John Hopkins University. This was found after those chemists were researching the oxidation mechanisms of toluene sulfonamide. They were working with coal-tar derivatives.

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